[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 12973-12974]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6968]



[[Page 12971]]

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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 7073--National Poison Prevention Week, 1998



Proclamation 7074--Greek Independence Day: A National Day of 
Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 1998
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 50 / Monday, March 16, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 12973]]

                Proclamation 7073 of March 12, 1998

                
National Poison Prevention Week, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Protecting the well-being of our children must always 
                be our highest priority as a people and as a Nation. 
                Innocent and vulnerable, children are eager to explore 
                the world around them, and in our society today, where 
                every home is filled with potentially dangerous 
                chemicals, this can put our children at grave risk. 
                According to the American Association of Poison Control 
                Centers, over one million children are exposed each 
                year to potentially deadly medicines and household 
                chemicals--a danger we must not, and need not, 
                tolerate.

                Since the first observance of National Poison 
                Prevention Week 36 years ago, the number of children 
                who have died each year from accidental poisonings has 
                dropped dramatically, from 450 in 1962 to 29 in 1995. 
                This remarkable progress is due in part to the 
                dedicated efforts of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
                Commission, the Poison Prevention Week Council, and our 
                Nation's poison control centers. Nevertheless we still 
                have much work to do if we are to prevent even a single 
                child from suffering or dying due to poisoning. Because 
                poisonings are almost always preventable, there are 
                simple, practical steps we can take to protect our 
                children: use child-resistant packaging correctly; keep 
                toxic materials locked up and out of the reach of 
                children; and, if a poisoning does occur, call a poison 
                control center immediately.

                This year, the focus of National Poison Prevention Week 
                is the danger posed by pesticides, which are involved 
                in the poisonings of thousands of young children each 
                year. While the Environmental Protection Agency 
                requires that most pesticides be in child-resistant 
                packaging, it is up to parents and caregivers to make 
                sure that these materials and other household chemicals 
                and medicines are kept locked up and out of the reach 
                of children. By taking a few moments to read labels and 
                store pesticides properly, we can avoid a lifetime of 
                regret.

                To encourage the American people to learn more about 
                the dangers of accidental poisonings and to take 
                responsible preventive measures, the Congress, by joint 
                resolution approved September 26, 1961 (75 Stat. 681), 
                has authorized and requested the President to issue a 
                proclamation designating the third week of March of 
                each year as ``National Poison Prevention Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 15 
                through March 21, 1998, as National Poison Prevention 
                Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week by 
                participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities 
                and by learning how to protect our children from 
                poisons.

[[Page 12974]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and 
                twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 98-6968
Filed 3-13-98; 11:18 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P