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Sunshine Week Shines in the Peach State as Gov. Issues Proclamation

Published: March 14, 2005
Last Updated: March 14, 2005

Sunshine Week Shines in the Peach State as Gov. Issues Proclamation

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has declared March 13-19 throughout the state. The text of his proclamation is below. "As the terror-ridden and despotic regimes around the world have shown, democracy cannot thrive when the public's 'right to know' is compromised, eliminated or unduly regulated," the proclamation reads, in part.

WHEREAS: Shortly after the founding of our nation, our earliest leaders took it upon themselves to establish The Bill of Rights to protect the citizens of the United States from the abuses of governmental power. Among the civil liberties they ensured were freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to bear arms, freedom to worship and the right to due process; and

WHEREAS: Beginning the week of March 13, 2005, journalism organizations across the nation along with thousands of concerned citizens celebrate "Sunshine Week" to educate all Americans about the importance of preserving our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press; and

WHEREAS: In addition to the constitutionally protected freedom of the press, the State of Georgia also provides its citizens access to government documents through the Open Records Act; and

WHEREAS: Our nation’s forefathers believed, as we do, that access to public information and the right to share that information with others without fear of reprisal is essential for a free society to prosper; and

WHEREAS: Even today, brave men and women of our Armed Forces are putting themselves in harm's way to protect this freedom and others; and

WHEREAS: As the terror-ridden and despotic regimes around the world have shown, democracy cannot thrive when the public’s “right to know” is compromised, eliminated or unduly regulated; now

THEREFORE: I, SONNY PERDUE, Governor of the State of Georgia, do hereby proclaim March 13-19, 2005, as SUNSHINE WEEK in Georgia.

In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the Executive Department to be affixed this 14th day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand five.