[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 194 (Friday, October 4, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51767-51768]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25715]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 194 / Friday, October 4, 1996 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 51767]]

                Proclamation 6924 of October 2, 1996

                
National Student Voter Education Day, 1996

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                 This election season marks the 25th anniversary of 
                suffrage for Americans between the ages of 18 and 20. 
                With the ratification of the 26th amendment to the 
                Constitution in July of 1971, which lowered the voting 
                age from 21 to 18, our Nation placed its trust in these 
                young people and gave them a clearer voice in the halls 
                of government.

                 America's bold experiment in self-government has 
                inspired over 200 years of struggle for a more complete 
                sense of justice and freedom, an effort etched in the 
                history of the Constitution and its amendments. 
                Emancipation, women's suffrage, civil rights, voting 
                rights--all of these battles were fought and won by 
                citizens of conscience and conviction who joined 
                together to bring our Nation closer to the ideals 
                enshrined in our Constitution of full and equal 
                representation and participation.

                 Since 1971, America's young adults have taken their 
                rightful place in this march toward true democracy and 
                opportunity. Living up to the trust placed in them and 
                meeting this profound responsibility of citizenship, 
                they have voted in large numbers and have played a 
                crucial role in choosing leaders and defining issues at 
                the local, State, and national levels. Generous in 
                spirit, optimistic and idealistic in outlook, they have 
                often proved to be the conscience of our Nation.

                 Now we are entering a new era in our national 
                existence. We are approaching a time unlike any in our 
                past, in which ideas and information will move around 
                the world at unprecedented speed, and in which there 
                will be more opportunity for people to live out their 
                dreams than ever before. I strongly urge today's young 
                Americans to step forward and accept the challenge of 
                helping to shape our Nation as we move into the 21st 
                century.

                 Register to vote, study the issues and the candidates, 
                and think seriously about what kind of country you want 
                America to be. And then, like the millions of Americans 
                who have gone before you, exercise what may be your 
                most important right--the right to vote.

                 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 October 2, 1996, 
                as National Student Voter Education Day, I call upon 
                Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders 
                of civic, educational, and religious organizations to 
                conduct meaningful ceremonies and programs in their 
                schools, churches, and other community gathering places 
                to foster a better understanding of the 26th amendment 
                to the U.S. Constitution and the rights and duties of 
                citizenship.

[[Page 51768]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                second day of October, 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 twenty-
                first.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 96-25715
Filed 10-03-96; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P