[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 43 (Friday, March 3, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11455-11456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5393]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 43 / Friday, March 3, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 11455]]

                Proclamation 7278 of February 29, 2000

                
American Red Cross Month, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                After the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, 
                President Theodore Roosevelt asked his fellow Americans 
                to respond by contributing to the American Red Cross, 
                ``the only organization chartered and authorized by 
                Congress to act at times of great national calamity.'' 
                Almost a century later, the American Red Cross 
                continues to serve our Nation and the world, providing 
                compassionate assistance to people suffering in the 
                aftermath of personal, local, national, or 
                international disasters.

                As one of our country's premier humanitarian 
                organizations, the Red Cross provides disaster relief 
                to millions of people both at home and abroad. In the 
                past year alone, the American Red Cross rose to meet 
                many challenges--from Hurricane Floyd on the eastern 
                seaboard to the Kosovo relief effort to the terrible 
                earthquakes and floods that struck countries around the 
                globe. Following the tragic shootings at Columbine High 
                School and in other schools and places of work and 
                worship, the American Red Cross sent in crisis 
                counselors to support grieving families and friends of 
                the victims. In Taiwan and in Turkey, the American Red 
                Cross worked with other Red Cross affiliates to provide 
                solace and support to earthquake survivors; after the 
                crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, Red Cross grief 
                counselors brought comfort to victims' families. In 
                total, the American Red Cross responded to nearly 
                64,000 disaster incidents last year alone and helped 
                provide information to thousands of families separated 
                from loved ones by war or disaster.

                The services that the American Red Cross provides go 
                beyond disaster relief. Its biomedical services program 
                provides patients in more than 3,000 hospitals 
                nationwide with the latest in high-quality, state-of-
                the-art blood and tissue services. Last year it 
                provided more than 700,000 emergency and personal 
                services for military personnel and their families, 
                including relaying messages from their families to the 
                three American servicemen held captive by Yugoslav 
                forces. And in communities across the Nation, more than 
                12 million people received Red Cross instruction in 
                lifesaving techniques last year, ranging from first aid 
                and CPR to water safety and boat handling.

                Forming the backbone of the American Red Cross is a 
                vast network of nearly 4.5 million blood donors and 1.3 
                million dedicated volunteers who ensure that help will 
                be there when and where it is needed. Virtually every 
                community in the United States is served by an American 
                Red Cross chapter, Blood Services region, or both; and 
                as we have seen demonstrated so dramatically over time, 
                no community is immune to the sudden and devastating 
                disasters that require the services and stewardship of 
                the American Red Cross. Each of us owes a lasting debt 
                of gratitude to this extraordinary organization that 
                has given so much to our people, our country, and our 
                world.

                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 2000 as American Red 
                Cross Month.

[[Page 11456]]

                I urge all the people of the United States to 
                demonstrate support for their local Red Cross chapters 
                and to become actively involved in furthering the 
                humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 00-5393
Filed 3-2-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P