[Title 3 CFR 6899]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1997 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 6899 - Proclamation 6899 of May 20, 1996]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




  3
  Presidential Documents
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  1997-01-01
  1997-01-01
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  6899
  Proclamation 6899
  
    Presidential Documents
  


Proclamation 6899 of May 20, 1996
World Trade Week, 1996
A Proclamation
International commerce is vital to domestic economic growth--perhaps 
more so now than at any other time in recent U.S. history. Our Nation's 
prosperity depends in large part on our ability to develop and produce 
high-quality products, identify and open markets, and promote American 
goods and services across the globe. The U.S. jobs supported by exports 
are increasingly important, paying an average of 13 percent more than 
other positions and accounting for nearly one out of ten American 
workers and one in five of those in the manufacturing sector. The theme 
of this year's World Trade Week, ``Winning with Exports,'' is an 
invitation and a challenge to U.S. firms to reap the benefits of doing 
business abroad.

[[Page 40]]

My Administration has developed a National Export Strategy that places 
special emphasis on helping small- and medium-sized companies seize 
trade opportunities. As part of this plan, we have created a country-
wide network of U.S. Export Assistance Centers to provide information 
and capital to businesses seeking to expand. The results speak for 
themselves; in 1995, actions taken by Centers like those in Chicago and 
Baltimore dramatically increased the number of U.S. firms entering new 
markets and boosting export sales.
Trade is also a means of fostering understanding and stability around 
the world, helping our Nation to build partnerships founded on mutual 
prosperity. American commerce and investments are strengthening new 
democracies whose viability depends on economic growth and raised 
standards of living. From South Africa, to Central Europe, the Baltic 
States, Russia, Ukraine, and the Newly Independent States, exporting is 
allowing our country to play a pivotal role in settling and solidifying 
crucial foreign markets. Trade is also essential to troubled regions 
such as the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and Bosnia, where job 
creation and economic improvements play an important role in efforts to 
achieve peace.
As we observe World Trade Week, 1996, let us strive to give our Nation's 
exporters every opportunity to sell products freely and fairly and help 
our companies to meet the challenge of exploring markets abroad. Their 
efforts to maintain efficient, high-quality production and to promote 
American goods and services to an international clientele will lead to a 
stronger economy and a brighter future for us all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of 
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 19 through May 25, 
1996, as World Trade Week. I call upon the people of the United States 
to observe this week with ceremonies, activities, and programs that 
celebrate the potential of international trade.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of 
May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON  
                                                              Proc. 6900