[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59203-59204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29537]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 212 / Tuesday, November 3, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 59203]]

                Proclamation 7145 of October 29, 1998

                
National Adoption Month, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Every child deserves a safe and loving family. But each 
                year, thousands of American children grow up without 
                such families, lacking the stability and sense of 
                permanency they need to thrive. More than 100,000 such 
                children--orphaned, abandoned, abused, or unable to 
                remain at home for other serious reasons--will need 
                homes in the next few years. Although foster care 
                provides a good supportive temporary environment for 
                these children, adoption can provide them with the 
                sustained love and care of permanent families and can 
                give adults the chance to open their hearts and homes 
                to a child they will cherish.

                My Administration has worked hard both to improve the 
                experience of children awaiting adoption and to 
                increase their chances of adoption. Last November, I 
                signed into law the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 
                1997, which made sweeping changes in our Nation's child 
                welfare system. This legislation underscores the 
                importance of safety and permanency for children 
                awaiting adoption and focuses on the urgency of finding 
                adoptive families. In addition to achieving passage of 
                this landmark legislation, we have made adoption easier 
                by barring discrimination by race or ethnicity, by 
                providing a tax credit for newly adoptive parents, and 
                by ensuring that adoptive parents are covered by the 
                Family and Medical Leave Act.

                We must strengthen such efforts if we are to meet our 
                national goal of doubling the number of adoptions by 
                the year 2002. In addition, while adoption in America 
                has increased in recent years, more than 25,000 young 
                Americans each year reach the age of 18 and leave the 
                child welfare system without permanent homes or 
                families. This statistic tells us that we still have 
                much to do. We must not only secure the placement of 
                young children in families, but also move aggressively 
                to place in permanent families our older children, as 
                well. I have directed the Federal Government to work 
                with State and local governments to continue 
                identifying and removing the barriers that prevent 
                young people from moving from our child welfare system 
                into adoptive families.

                Working together--policymakers, government officials, 
                family welfare agencies, religious and community 
                organizations, and families--we can make a difference 
                in the lives of thousands of children. My 
                Administration will continue to support efforts to 
                recruit and strengthen adoptive families and to shorten 
                the time it takes to move children from foster care to 
                permanent homes; to reduce the backlogs in our Nation's 
                juvenile and family court systems; and to promote 
                strong, supportive adoption programs that meet the 
                needs of every child.

                During National Adoption Month, let us recommit 
                ourselves to the goal of finding a safe, permanent, and 
                loving home for every child in need. Let us also honor 
                the many caring families across our Nation who have 
                opened their arms and their hearts to a child through 
                adoption. By making such a profound and loving 
                commitment to our Nation's most vulnerable children, 
                they are also making a lasting investment in America's 
                future.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution

[[Page 59204]]

                and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim 
                November 1998 as National Adoption Month. I urge all 
                Americans to observe this month with appropriate 
                programs and activities to honor adoptive families and 
                to participate in efforts to find permanent, loving 
                homes for waiting children.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth 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. 98-29537
Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P