[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 3, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 10385-10386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5464]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 10385]]


                Proclamation 7171 of March 1, 1999

                
Save Your Vision Week, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Vision is an extraordinary blessing--one that should be 
                cherished and protected. Complex and remarkable organs, 
                the eyes work in concert with the brain to produce 
                vision, allowing us to experience the beauty and 
                variety of the physical world around us.

                Because blindness and vision loss are often avoidable, 
                the maintenance of good vision must be a top health 
                priority and an integral part of every American's 
                overall health care routine. Preventative eye care is 
                particularly important because there are often no 
                warning signs or pain associated with many eye 
                diseases, and, by the time vision loss is identified, 
                it is frequently too late to undo the damage. Periodic 
                dilated pupil eye examinations can reveal the early 
                signs of eye disease and buy precious time for 
                treatment.

                It is equally important to protect our eyes from 
                injury, another leading cause of vision loss. Each 
                year, more than 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the 
                United States. By using protective eyewear when working 
                with machinery or chemicals, playing sports, or 
                engaging in other recreational activities, we can help 
                prevent irreparable loss of sight.

                Taking measures to prevent vision loss in our children 
                is especially important because their early development 
                and academic achievement can suffer due to vision 
                problems or diseases. Even before they begin school, 
                children should undergo a complete eye examination so 
                that poor vision or eye disorders can be appropriately 
                treated.

                As the 21st century fast approaches, our national 
                investment in research to prevent, postpone, and treat 
                eye diseases and disorders has produced substantial 
                results. Laser technology, new medications, gene 
                mapping, innovations in diagnostic techniques, and 
                other sight-saving discoveries are improving the lives 
                of millions of Americans. These advances in medical 
                research, combined with preventative eye care and 
                increased safety measures, can all work to preserve our 
                gift of sight.

                To remind our citizens of the importance of 
                safeguarding their eyesight, the Congress, by join 
                resolution approved December 30, 1963 (77 Stat. 629; 36 
                U.S.C. 169a), has authorized and requested the 
                President to proclaim the first week in March of each 
                year as ``Save Your Vision Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 7 
                through March 13, 1999, as Save Your Vision Week. I 
                urge all Americans to participate by making eye care 
                and eye safety an important part of their lives and to 
                ensure that dilated eye examinations are included in 
                their regular health maintenance programs. I invite eye 
                care professionals, the media, and all public and 
                private organizations dedicated to preserving eyesight 
                to join in activities that will raise awareness of the 
                measures we can take to protect and sustain our vision.

[[Page 10386]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of March, 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. 99-5464
Filed 3-2-99; 11:21 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P