[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 30427-30428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-7008]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 107 / Wednesday, June 4, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 30427]]

                Proclamation 7008 of May 30, 1997

                
Small Business Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America was built on the enterprise of our people--on 
                their ideas, their energy, their willingness to take 
                risks, and their willingness to pursue their dreams. 
                Throughout the decades, men and women of independence, 
                optimism, and determination have come to our shores, 
                confident in the knowledge that in America they could 
                build a life for themselves and their families through 
                their own initiative, creating and developing 
                businesses in every field of endeavor.

                The success of the small business community has been a 
                hallmark of our free enterprise system, helping to 
                drive the engine of America's economy as we compete in 
                the global marketplace. The invaluable contributions of 
                small business owners to the strength of our economy 
                are reflected in some extraordinary statistics. The 
                recent record growth of the small business community 
                has resulted in 840,000 new employer firms over the 
                past year--the highest number ever, and a 2-percent 
                increase over the last record set in 1995. Small 
                businesses employ 53 percent of America's private work 
                force, account for 47 percent of all sales in the 
                country, and generate more than half of our private 
                gross domestic product; and industries dominated by 
                small business produced almost 1.5 million new jobs in 
                the last year alone.

                Our challenge now is to help America's small business 
                community build on this phenomenal record of success. 
                My Administration is committed to giving small business 
                men and women the opportunity to realize their dreams. 
                The Small Business Administration has a portfolio 
                guaranteeing over $27 billion in loans to 185,000 small 
                businesses that otherwise would not have access to such 
                capital. We are encouraging microenterprise through the 
                Department of Treasury's Community Development 
                Financial Institution Fund, an initiative that makes it 
                easier for prospective entrepreneurs to obtain the 
                training and financing they need to start their own 
                businesses. Working in partnership with State 
                governments, we are striving to help modernize our 
                Nation's small and medium-sized manufacturers and 
                removing regulatory barriers to the adoption of new 
                technologies in such fields as telemedicine, building 
                and construction, and environmental technologies. We 
                have also developed a National Export Strategy to help 
                America's small and medium-sized businesses realize 
                their export potential and compete effectively in the 
                global marketplace.

                As we observe Small Business Week, I join all Americans 
                in saluting the men and women who have embraced the 
                opportunities our country offers, whose hard work is 
                transforming their communities, and whose energy and 
                initiative are building our country into the kind of 
                Nation we want to be in the 21st century.

                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 June 1 through June 7, 1997, 
                as Small Business Week. I call upon Government 
                officials and all the people of the United States to 
                observe this week with appropriate

[[Page 30428]]

                ceremonies, activities, and programs that celebrate the 
                achievements of small business owners and encourage the 
                development of new enterprises.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth 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. 97-7008
Filed 6-3-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P