[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 15, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 18501-18502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9914]



[[Page 18499]]

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Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 6986--National Service and Volunteer Week, 1997

Proclamation 6987--Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 72 / Tuesday, April 15, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 18501]]

                Proclamation 6986 of April 11, 1997

                
National Service and Volunteer Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Citizen service is a vital force in American life, 
                helping to build a stronger sense of community and 
                citizenship and engaging Americans to meet the 
                obligations we all share. Whether tutoring children, 
                mentoring teens, renovating housing, restoring public 
                parks, responding to natural disasters, or caring for 
                aging parents and grandparents, those who serve and 
                volunteer are strengthening our communities for 
                America's future.

                The era of big government may be over, but the era of 
                big challenges for our Nation is surely not. Citizen 
                service reflects one of the most basic convictions of 
                our democracy: that we are all responsible for one 
                another. It is a very American idea that we meet our 
                challenges not through big government or as isolated 
                individuals, but as members of a true community, with 
                all of us working together.

                Americans can take pride in knowing that our tradition 
                of service is being preserved and expanded. As we 
                recognize the devoted service of our Nation's citizens, 
                we must continue to foster the spirit of volunteerism, 
                making service the common expectation and experience of 
                every American. Working together, we can respond to our 
                shared problems and build a better future for the 
                generations to come.

                National Service and Volunteer Week is a time to 
                celebrate the American spirit of service and 
                volunteerism and a time to encourage citizens to use 
                their individual talents to serve the common good. 
                During this week and throughout the year, let us salute 
                all those who devote their time, their talents, and 
                their energy to improving our communities--through 
                organizations like AmeriCorps and other programs within 
                the Corporation for National Service; the Points of 
                Light Foundation; Learn and Serve America; the National 
                Senior Service Corps; and thousands of other voluntary, 
                civic, religious, and neighborhood groups.

                Later this month, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 
                we will convene an historic Presidents' Summit on 
                Service. I will be joined there by every living former 
                president, or his representative, and other prominent 
                Americans as we take specific steps to serve our 
                children and to rebuild our communities. Our mission is 
                nothing less than to spark a renewed national sense of 
                obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season of 
                service.

                I hope that the many related activities in the days 
                leading up to this important event will make all 
                Americans think about our shared responsibility for one 
                another. Citizen service can take many shapes--it can 
                mean joining AmeriCorps as a high school student, 
                volunteering nights or on weekends in a religious group 
                or neighborhood association, or devoting years of one's 
                life to service in the Peace Corps or in the Jesuit 
                Volunteer Corps.

                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 the week of April 13 through 
                April 19, 1997, as National Service and Volunteer Week. 
                I call upon all Americans to observe this week with 
                appropriate programs, cere-

[[Page 18502]]

                 monies, and activities to express appreciation for all 
                those who serve and to encourage others to continue the 
                American legacy of service.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eleventh day of April, 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. 97-9914
Filed 4-14-97; 11:17 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P