[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51363-51364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26120]



[[Page 51361]]

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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 7027--Austrian-American Day, 1997



Proclamation 7028--Gold Star Mother's Day, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 189 / Tuesday, September 30, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 51363]]

                Proclamation 7027 of September 25, 1997

                
Austrian-American Day, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For more than 200 years, the life of our Nation has 
                been enriched and renewed by the many people who have 
                come here from around the world, seeking a new life for 
                themselves and their families. Austrian Americans have 
                made their own unique and lasting contributions to 
                America's strength and character, and they continue to 
                play a vital role in the peace and prosperity we enjoy 
                today.

                 As with so many other immigrants, the earliest 
                Austrians came to America in search of religious 
                freedom. Arriving in 1734, they settled in the colony 
                of Georgia, growing and prospering with the passing of 
                the years. One of these early Austrian settlers, Johann 
                Adam Treutlen, was to become the first elected governor 
                of the new State of Georgia.

                In the two centuries that followed, millions of other 
                Austrians made the same journey to our shores. From the 
                political refugees of the 1848 revolutions in Austria 
                to Jews fleeing the anti-Semitism of Hitler's Third 
                Reich, Austrians brought with them to America a love of 
                freedom, a strong work ethic, and a deep reverence for 
                education. In every field of endeavor, Austrian 
                Americans have made notable contributions to our 
                culture and society. We have all been enriched by the 
                lives and achievements of such individuals as Supreme 
                Court Justice Felix Frankfurter; Joel Elias Spingarn, 
                who helped to found the NAACP; psychiatrist and 
                educator Alexandra Adler; lyricist Frederick Loewe, who 
                helped to transform American musical theater; and 
                architects John Smithmeyer and Richard Neutra.

                Americans of Austrian descent have also helped to 
                nurture the strong ties of friendship between the 
                United States and Austria, a friendship that has 
                survived the upheaval of two World Wars and the 
                subsequent division of Europe between the forces of 
                East and West. On September 26, 1945, a conference was 
                convened in Vienna among the nine Austrian Federal 
                States that helped to unify the nation and paved the 
                way for recognition by the United States and the Allied 
                Forces of the first postwar Provisional Austrian 
                Government. Setting the date for the first free 
                national elections, this important meeting laid the 
                foundation for the strong, prosperous, and independent 
                Austria we know today.

                In recognition of the significance of this date to the 
                relationship between our Nation and the Federal 
                Republic of Austria, and in gratitude for the many 
                gifts that Austrian Americans bring to the life of our 
                country, it is appropriate that we pause to celebrate 
                Austrian-American Day.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of 
                the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 
                26, 1997, as Austrian-American Day. I encourage all 
                Americans to recognize and celebrate the important 
                contributions that millions of Americans of Austrian 
                descent have made--and continue to make--to our 
                Nation's strength and prosperity.

[[Page 51364]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fifth day of September, 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. 97-26120
Filed 9-29-97; 10:59 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P