[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 245 (Tuesday, December 22, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 70629-70630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34033]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 245 / Tuesday, December 22, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 70629]]

                Proclamation 7160 of December 17, 1998

                
Wright Brothers Day, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On a December morning 95 years ago, over the windswept 
                sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur 
                Wright turned humanity's age-old dream of powered 
                flight into reality. The two brothers, bicycle 
                mechanics by trade and visionaries by nature, had 
                worked painstakingly for years to construct the first 
                power-driven craft that was heavier than air and 
                capable of controlled, sustained flight. After 
                persevering through many trials and discouraging 
                setbacks, they made their fourth trip to Kitty Hawk in 
                1903 and, on December 17, with Orville at the controls 
                and Wilbur running alongside, their airplane took 
                flight and took us into a new era. The achievement of 
                the Wright brothers was not only a great personal 
                success and a vindication of years of creative effort 
                and methodical experimentation--it was also a feat of 
                historic significance for the future of humankind.

                Almost a century later, the same passion and power of 
                imagination that spurred the Wright brothers are 
                fueling the dreams of a new generation of Americans. 
                From John Glenn's second historic space flight to the 
                construction of the International Space Station, we 
                continue to open new frontiers and expand our horizons. 
                Just as the Wright brothers' inventions and 
                achievements created a new industry and revolutionized 
                transportation, commerce, and communication, today's 
                missions into space hold great promise for the 
                development of new technologies and industries to 
                benefit all humanity and strengthen our hopes for 
                lasting peace and prosperity for nations across the 
                globe.

                This November, I was pleased to sign into law the 
                Centennial of Flight Commemoration Act, which 
                establishes a commission to coordinate the celebration 
                in 2003 of the 100th anniversary of the Wright 
                brothers' first flight. The commission's activities 
                will raise public awareness of the enormous 
                contributions of the Wright brothers to human progress; 
                remind the world of the triumph of American ingenuity, 
                inventiveness, and diligence in developing new 
                technologies; and inspire all Americans to recognize 
                that the daring, creativity, and spirit of adventure 
                reflected in the achievement of the Wright brothers 
                will be crucial to the success of our Nation in the 
                21st century.

                The Congress, by a joint resolution approved December 
                17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 169), has designated 
                December 17 of each year as ``Wright Brothers Day'' and 
                has authorized and requested the President to issue 
                annually a proclamation inviting the people of the 
                United States to observe that day with appropriate 
                ceremonies and activities.

[[Page 70630]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 
                17, 1998, as Wright Brothers Day.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventeenth day of December, 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. 98-34033
Filed 12-21-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P