[Title 3 CFR 7006]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1998 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 7006 - Proclamation 7006 of May 22, 1997]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


3Presidential Documents11998-01-011998-01-01false7006Proclamation 7006Presidential Documents
Proclamation 7006 of May 22, 1997

Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

The observance of Memorial Day is one of America's noblest traditions. 
At its core lies the most basic of the beliefs on which our Nation was 
founded: that freedom is so precious it is worth the price of our lives 
to preserve it.
Throughout our history, we have been blessed by the courage and 
commitment of Americans who were willing to pay that price, and more 
than 1.3 million of them have died for our Nation. From Lexington and 
Concord to Iwo Jima and the Persian Gulf, on fields of battle across 
America and

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around the world, our men and women in uniform have risked--
and lost--their lives to protect America's interests, to advance the 
ideals of democracy, and to defend the liberty we hold so dear.
This spirit of selfless sacrifice is an unbroken thread woven through 
our history. Wherever they came from, whenever they served, our fallen 
heroes knew they were fighting to preserve our freedom. On Memorial Day 
we remember them, and we acknowledge that we stand as a great, proud, 
and free Nation because of their devotion.
But this is not the only day on which we honor their service and 
sacrifice. Whenever we lend our hearts and hands and voices to the work 
of peace in the world, whenever we show respect for the flag, cast a 
vote in an election, or exercise our freedoms of speech, assembly, and 
worship, we honor our fellow Americans who guaranteed those freedoms 
with their lives. In respect and recognition of these courageous men and 
women, the Congress, by joint resolution approved on May 11, 1950 (64 
Stat. 158), requested that the President issue a proclamation calling 
upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a 
day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day 
when the American people might unite in prayer.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of 
America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 26, 1997, as a day of 
prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each 
locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to join in prayer. I urge 
the press, radio, television, and all other information media to take 
part in this observance.
I also request the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all units of 
government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff during this 
Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the 
United States and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control, and I 
request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-
staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day 
of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON