[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 10101-10102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5236]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 2, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 10101]]

                Proclamation 7168 of February 25, 1999

                
American Red Cross Month, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For almost 120 years, the American Red Cross has served 
                as a beacon of hope to those in need. Reaching out to 
                victims of disaster, generations of Red Cross 
                volunteers have provided shelter, food, and other 
                essential services to relieve the sufferings of 
                families and communities and help people begin the 
                process of rebuilding their lives. Today more than a 
                million dedicated men and women volunteer under the 
                banner of the American Red Cross, upholding this 
                extraordinary tradition of service and assisting people 
                across our Nation and around the world to prevent, 
                prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

                The strength and scope of the natural disasters that 
                occurred during 1998 made this past year among the most 
                devastating in recent history. Floods, tornadoes, 
                winter storms, and wildfires ravaged communities across 
                the Nation. Hurricanes Georges and Mitch caused record 
                destruction in the Gulf States and Central America. In 
                total, the American Red Cross responded to more than 
                62,000 disasters in 1998. Whether it was a fire that 
                destroyed a family's home or a hurricane that destroyed 
                an entire region, the Red Cross reacted immediately 
                with compassion, generosity, and humanity.

                Yet the Red Cross does more than cope with emergencies. 
                During the past year, volunteers collected and 
                processed nearly six million units of lifesaving blood 
                for our Nation's hospitals and educated more than 11 
                million Americans through health and safety courses. 
                The Red Cross also reached out to the men and women of 
                our Armed Forces, their families, and our veterans, 
                helping our military personnel keep in touch with home 
                during family emergencies, offering confidential 
                counseling and other support services, and assisting 
                veterans in obtaining their benefits. In the past year 
                alone, the American Red Cross pro vided more than 
                840,000 individual services to those who have given so 
                much to protect our Nation and preserve our freedom.

                During American Red Cross Month, as we take time to 
                recognize this vital organization and all that it has 
                accomplished, we can and should look forward with hope 
                to the new century. For while we can never know the 
                challenges we may face in the future, whether as 
                individuals or as a national community, we do know that 
                the American Red Cross will continue to serve, enabling 
                us to meet those challenges and to recover from 
                disaster. As Americans, let us sustain our long-
                standing support of the Red Cross and its humanitarian 
                mission and renew our commitment to the ideals upon 
                which it was founded. By reaching out with compassion 
                and caring to help those in need, we can ensure a 
                brighter future for our Nation and our world in the new 
                millennium.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America and Honorary Chairman of the 
                American Red Cross, by virtue of the authority vested 
                in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim March 1999 as American Red 
                Cross Month. I urge all the people of the United States 
                to show support for their local Red Cross chapters and 
                to become active participants in advancing the noble 
                mission of the Red Cross.

[[Page 10102]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-5236
Filed 3-1-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P