[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 15 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 3443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1744]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 15 / Thursday, January 23, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 3443]]


                Proclamation 6968 of January 20, 1997

                
National Day of Hope and Renewal, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today as we celebrate the last Presidential 
                Inauguration of the 20th century and raise our sights 
                with hope and humility toward the challenges of a new 
                age, let us together ask God's guidance and blessing.

                This day marks not a personal or political victory but 
                the triumph of a free people who have freely chosen the 
                course our country will take as we prepare for the 21st 
                century.

                During the past 4 years, we have grown together as a 
                people and as a Nation. Touched by tragedy, 
                strengthened by achievement, exhilarated by the 
                challenges and opportunities ahead, we have come a long 
                way on our journey to change America's course for the 
                better. We have always been a people of hope--hope that 
                we can make tomorrow brighter than today, hope that we 
                can fulfill our Nation's enduring promise of freedom 
                and opportunity. And we have always known that, by the 
                grace of God and our mutual labor, we can make our 
                hopes reality.

                Today, we live in an age of possibility--a moment of 
                rich opportunity that brings with it a deep 
                responsibility for the future and the generations to 
                come. We must seize this special moment with a 
                commitment to do right by those who will follow us in 
                this blessed land.

                Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life and vision we 
                honor today, recognized that the destiny of each 
                American is bound to the destiny of all Americans; that 
                if we are to go forward, we must go forward together. 
                So, let us pledge today to continue our national 
                journey together. Let us reaffirm our commitment to our 
                shared values of family and faith, work and 
                opportunity. And let us resolve to work together, one 
                Nation under God, to build a bridge of hope and renewal 
                to a new American century.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do 
                hereby proclaim January 20, 1997, a National Day of 
                Hope and Renewal, and I call upon the citizens of this 
                great Nation to observe this day by reflecting on their 
                obligations to one another and to our beloved country 
                and by facing the future with a spirit of hope and 
                renewal.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twentieth day of January, 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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-1744
Filed 1-22-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P