[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 195 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54027-54028]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27271]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 195 / Thursday, October 8, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 54027]]

                Proclamation 7132 of October 5, 1998

                
Child Health Day, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As caring parents and citizens, we must do all we can 
                to ensure that our children, our Nation's greatest 
                resource, lead safe and healthy lives. Today, thanks to 
                scientific breakthroughs and increased public 
                awareness, we have the ability to prevent many of the 
                childhood illnesses and disorders of the past. We have 
                raised immunization rates to an all-time high, ensured 
                that prescription drugs will be adequately tested for 
                children, conducted research to help protect children 
                from environmental health risks, and established 
                protections so that mothers can stay in hospitals with 
                their newborns until they and their doctors decide they 
                are ready to leave. Although we can be heartened by 
                these important achievements, we must do more if we are 
                to overcome the many health challenges our children 
                still face.

                Recent studies show that children without health 
                insurance are more likely to be sick as newborns, less 
                likely to be immunized, and less likely to receive 
                treatment for recurring illnesses. One of the great 
                accomplishments of my Administration has been the 
                creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program 
                (CHIP), which I called for in my 1997 State of the 
                Union and signed into law just a year ago. CHIP 
                provides $24 billion to help States offer affordable 
                health insurance to children in eligible working 
                families--the single largest investment in children's 
                health since the passage of Medicaid in 1965. CHIP will 
                provide health care coverage, including prescription 
                drugs, and vision, hearing, and mental health services, 
                to as many as 5 million uninsured children; and in its 
                first year, nearly four out of five States already are 
                participating in CHIP. We are also working hard to 
                identify and enroll in Medicaid the more than 4 million 
                children who are currently eligible to receive health 
                care through that program but are not enrolled. The 
                challenge before us now is to realize the promise of 
                CHIP and Medicaid by reaching out to families to inform 
                them of their options for health care coverage.

                Due to recent breakthroughs in medical knowledge, we 
                know that the decisions we make even before our 
                children are born can have a significant impact on 
                their future health. That is why we are committed to 
                fighting, among other afflictions, the tragic 
                consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In this 
                country, thousands of infants are born each year 
                suffering from the physical and mental effects of this 
                disorder. Because its effects are devastating, causing 
                permanent damage, the simplest and best measure that 
                expectant mothers can take for the safety of their 
                babies is to abstain from drinking alcohol throughout 
                their pregnancies.

                As part of my Administration's ongoing efforts to 
                protect our children from the effects of alcohol and 
                other substance abuse, Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services Donna Shalala recently announced a new 
                campaign, ``Your Time--Their Future,'' to recruit 
                adults to help children and adolescents develop healthy 
                and useful skills and interests. Research shows that 
                the guidance and example of caring adults can play an 
                important part in helping young people resist the 
                attraction of alcohol and other harmful or illegal 
                substances.

[[Page 54028]]

                To acknowledge the importance of our children's health, 
                the Congress, by joint resolution approved May 18, 
                1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 143), has called for the 
                designation of the first Monday in October as ``Child 
                Health Day'' and has requested the President to issue a 
                proclamation in observance of this day.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, 
                October 5, 1998, as Child Health Day. I call upon 
                families, schools, communities, and governments to 
                dedicate themselves to protecting the health and well-
                being of all our children.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth day of October, 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-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 98-27271
Filed 10-7-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P