Proclamation 5772 --
Lithuanian Independence Day, 1988
February 11, 1988
By
the President of the United States of
America
A
Proclamation
Seventy
years ago, on February 16, 1918, the Lithuanian
National Council declared the independence of Lithuania and established the Republic of Lithuania. This restoration of Lithuania's sovereignty was
recognized around the world -- even by the Soviet Union, in 1920. Lithuania joined the League of Nations in 1921, and for the
next two decades Lithuanians enjoyed liberty and self-determination under a
government that fostered political and religious freedom for all citizens.
Then,
in June 1940, the year after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact, the Soviet
Union
invaded and illegally occupied Lithuania and the other Baltic States. The United States unequivocally condemned
this violation of national sovereignty and national integrity, and ever since
then our policy has remained consistent. We have never recognized the forcible
incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union, and we never will.
Observance
of the anniversary of Lithuania's Declaration of
Independence is natural for Americans, who faithfully celebrate our own
Independence Day each year. America has long been a beacon
of hope to Lithuania, because Americans
cherish their self-determination, individual liberty, and independence -- the
God-given rights the Lithuanian people seek to reclaim in the face of religious
and political persecution, forced Russification, and
ethnic dilution. It is therefore fitting to show our solidarity with the people
of Lithuania.
We
join in Lithuania's proud and solemn
remembrance of the 70th anniversary of its independence, and together with
people the world over we share the spirit and the hope of the Lithuanian people
as they commemorate that day. Among the Lithuanian people the spirit of liberty
remains unbroken -- the spirit of a true leader of her people, Nijole Sadunaite, whose
sacrifices for country and conscience continue so courageously to the present
day, and who wrote from the Gulag, ``Our brief days on earth are not meant for
rest, but to participate in the struggle for the happiness of numerous
hearts''; the spirit of the freedom marchers of Vilnius, Lithuania's capital,
and of Kaunas; the spirit of every time and place
where bold sons and daughters remember their heritage and their highest ideals.
To
demonstrate our common commitment to the cause of freedom, the Congress, by
Senate Joint Resolution 39, has designated February 16, 1988, as ``Lithuanian
Independence Day'' and has authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of this day.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim February
16, 1988,
as Lithuanian Independence Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day
with appropriate ceremonies and activities in reaffirmation of their devotion
to the just aspirations of all peoples for self-determination and liberty.
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of February, in the
year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and
twelfth.
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register, 10:18 a.m., February 12, 1988]