Proc. 7577 Title 3--The President (3) The USTR is authorized to treat requests for exclusion submitted in accordance with the procedures set out in 67 Fed. Beg. 19307 (April 18, 2002); 67 Fed. Meg. 35842 (May 2% 2002); or 67 Fed. Meg. 38693 (June 5, 2002) as having been submitted in accordance with the procedures set out in 66 Fed. Beg. 5432% 54322-54323 (October 26, 200\177). (4) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such inconsistency. (5) The modifications to the HTS made by this proclamation shall be ef- fective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after \1772:01 a.m. EST, on March 20, 2002, and shall con- tinue in effect as provided in subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS, un- less such actions are earlier expressly reduced, modified, or terminated. Ef- fective at the close of March 2% 2006, or such other date that is \177 year from the close of the safeguard measures, the modifications to the HTS estab- lished in this proclamation shall be deleted from the HTS. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth. GEORGE W. BUSH Proclamation 7577 of July 17, 2002 Captive Nations Week, 2002 By the President of the United States of Arnerica A Proclamation The United States is proud to stand on the side of brave people everywhere who seek the same freedoms upon which our Nation was founded. Each year, during Captive Nations Week, we reaffirm our determination to work for freedom around the globe. Created against the backdrop of the Cold War, the importance and power of Captive Nations Week continues to reso- nate in today's world. In too many corners of the earth, freedom and independence are the vic- tims of dictators driven by hatred, fear, designs of ethnic superiority, reli- gious intolerance, and xenophobia. These despots deny their citizens the liberty and justice that is the birthright of all people. Some governments, such as those in North Korea, Iraq, and Iran, starve their people, take away their voices, traffic in terror, and threaten the world with weapons of mass destruction. In many other places, from Burma to Belarus, Cuba and Zimbabwe, people are denied the most basic rights to speak in freedom, and their daily lives are haunted by the fear of the secret police. This week, America reaffirms our solidarity with and support for people living under conditions of servitude. They are the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity. History teaches us that when people are given a choice between freedom and tyranny, freedom will win. Recently, the world saw this in Afghanistan, where people took to the streets to celebrate the fall 110
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