[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 25105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12144]



[[Page 25103]]

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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 6998--Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 88 / Wednesday, May 7, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 25105]]

                Proclamation 6998 of May 5, 1997

                
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today, almost 10 million Americans can trace their 
                roots to Asia and the Pacific Islands. This month 
                provides a wonderful opportunity to recognize and 
                celebrate all the ways in which Asian and Pacific 
                Americans have enhanced our Nation and strengthened our 
                communities.

                North America was visited regularly by Asian and 
                Pacific traders as early as the 16th century, and by 
                the late 1800s, this continent was receiving large 
                numbers of immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, the 
                Philippines, and the Indian subcontinent. These 
                settlers worked hard, turning wilderness into bountiful 
                farmland in Hawaii, opening new industries in the West, 
                and helping to build the first transcontinental 
                railroad.

                Along with a vast array of skills, Americans of Asian 
                and Pacific Island ancestry brought their remarkable 
                traditions of hard work and respect for family and 
                education to their new country. Their belief in the 
                American Dream of equality and opportunity enabled them 
                to face the challenges of adversity and discrimination 
                and achieve a record of distinguished service in all 
                fields, from academia to government, from business to 
                the military, and medicine to the arts. These people 
                and their children managed to preserve the rich legacy 
                of their homelands while also embracing the best values 
                and traditions that define our Nation.

                In recent years, newly arrived groups of Asian and 
                Pacific peoples have continued to enrich our proud 
                tradition of cultural diversity and endow our Nation 
                with energy and vision. Today, as we prepare to enter 
                the 21st century, we must continually strive to fulfill 
                the ideals that originally attracted so many immigrants 
                to our shores.

                To honor the accomplishments of Asian and Pacific 
                Americans and to recognize their many contributions to 
                our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 102-450, has 
                designated the month of May as ``Asian/Pacific American 
                Heritage Month.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1997 
                as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. I call upon 
                the people of the United States to observe this 
                occasion with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth 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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-12144
Filed 5-6-97; 10:27 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P