[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40725-40726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20151]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 145 / Tuesday, July 29, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 40725]]


                Proclamation 7015 of July 25, 1997

                
Parents' Day, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                 There are few experiences in life more challenging or 
                more rewarding than being a parent. Holding their child 
                for the first time, parents suddenly realize that they 
                are totally responsible for this small person entrusted 
                to their care. On Parents' Day, we pay tribute to these 
                quiet heroes among us--the mothers and fathers who make 
                a lifetime commitment to their children.

                 Parents work hard to meet their children's need for 
                food, shelter, clothing, and protection; but more 
                important, they give their daughters and sons the deep 
                and abiding love, guidance, attention, and 
                encouragement that empowers them with the values and 
                self-esteem to succeed in life. Parents love their 
                children as they are, yet still help them to dream big 
                dreams about who they can become.

                 The more we learn about our children, the more we 
                realize the importance of good parenting. As we learned 
                at the recent White House Conference on Early Childhood 
                Development and Learning, the first few years of life 
                are crucial to a child's emotional, social, and 
                intellectual development. As their children's first and 
                most influential teachers, parents play an immeasurably 
                important role in helping their sons and daughters grow 
                into happy and healthy adulthood.

                 The responsibilities of parenthood have become even 
                more challenging in today's complex world. In many 
                American families, both parents must work, struggling 
                to balance the demands of job, home, and family. This 
                balancing act is even harder for single parents, who 
                must face the challenge of raising their children 
                alone. In our mobile society, parents are often less 
                able to rely on an extended family to help them provide 
                the care and attention their children need. And today's 
                mothers and fathers must protect their children from 
                the ever-present threats of drugs, gangs, guns, 
                violence, and unhealthy influences in the media and on 
                the Internet.

                 Recognizing that good parents are the foundation of 
                our society, my Administration has strived for the past 
                4 years to give parents the help they need to meet 
                their responsibilities. I signed into law the Family 
                and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we are now proposing 
                an expansion of that legislation to allow workers up to 
                24 hours of unpaid leave each year to meet family 
                obligations. We are fighting to make our neighborhoods 
                safer and drug-free and to reduce juvenile crime. We 
                have expanded and improved Head Start to help parents 
                prepare their young children to enter school ready to 
                learn, and we have created an Early Head Start Program 
                for children age 3 and under. We succeeded in requiring 
                the installation of the V-chip and in helping to 
                develop a voluntary ratings system on television so 
                that parents can better protect their children from 
                inappropriate material. And we are working with the 
                computer industry to provide family-friendly controls 
                that will give parents similar tools to use on the 
                Internet.

                 As we observe Parents' Day this year, I urge all 
                Americans to join me in paying tribute to the millions 
                of mothers and fathers--biological and adoptive, foster 
                parents and stepparents--whose boundless love and 
                selfless efforts are building a better life for their 
                children and for our nation. Let

[[Page 40726]]

                us repay that love and effort by striving, in our 
                neighborhoods, schools, businesses, community and 
                church organizations, and in government at every level, 
                to help parents fulfill their awesome responsibilities 
                and create a brighter future for America.

                 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 and consistent with Public Law 103-
                362, do hereby proclaim Sunday, July 27, 1997, as 
                Parents' Day. I invite the States, communities, and the 
                people of the United States to join together in 
                observing this day with appropriate ceremonies and 
                activities to honor our Nation's parents.

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-20151
Filed 7-28-97; 11:30 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P