[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 94 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 31071-31072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12355]



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Part II





The President





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Proclamation 7307--Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 2000
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 94 / Monday, May 15, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 31071]]

                Proclamation 7307 of May 11, 2000

                
Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                From our earliest days as a Nation, America has been 
                blessed with citizens of courage and character who have 
                dedicated their lives to keeping the peace in our 
                communities. Five years after the creation of the U.S. 
                Marshals Service in 1789, U.S. Marshal Robert Forsyth 
                was shot and killed in the line of duty. He was the 
                first of more than 14,000 law enforcement personnel 
                since that time to give his life to uphold the law and 
                protect the people he was sworn to serve.

                Our Nation owes a lasting debt of gratitude to the men 
                and women of our law enforcement community who, each 
                day, put their lives at risk to protect us and ensure 
                the safety of our families and homes. Because of their 
                skill, valor, and commitment, we have begun to turn the 
                tide on crime in America. The murder rate is at its 
                lowest level in more than 30 years, and the overall 
                crime rate is at its lowest point in 25 years. There 
                are many reasons for this progress, but police chiefs, 
                policymakers, and citizens alike agree that the 
                dedication of our law enforcement officers and the 
                spread of community policing have been critical 
                factors. Today, in cities and communities across 
                America, residents and police officers are working in 
                partnership, forming neighborhood watch organizations, 
                banding together against drug dealers and gangs, and 
                building connections that are the core of community 
                life and the foundation of a civil society.

                Unfortunately, we need look no further than the tragic 
                losses suffered by law enforcement officers to 
                recognize the risks that these brave men and women face 
                every day. Last year, 50 police officers were struck 
                down in the line of duty, and another 84 lost their 
                lives in accidents. For these heroes, the safety of 
                their fellow citizens was their purpose and passion, 
                and they made the ultimate sacrifice to fulfill their 
                duty.

                We can never repay these gallant men and women for 
                their service or adequately comfort their families. We 
                can only honor their memory--not only in words and 
                ceremony, but in our determination to promote justice, 
                uphold the law, and preserve the peace and safety they 
                helped purchase with their lives.

                By a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962 (76 
                Stat. 676), the Congress has authorized and requested 
                the President to designate May 15 of each year as 
                ``Peace Officers Memorial Day'' and the week in which 
                it falls as ``Police Week,'' and, by Public Law 103-322 
                (36 U.S.C. 136), has directed that the flag be flown at 
                half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 15, 
                2000, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 14 through 
                May 20, 2000, as Police Week. I call upon the people of 
                the United States to observe these occasions with 
                appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities. I 
                also request the Governors of the United States and of 
                the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as the 
                appropriate officials of all units of government, to 
                direct that the flag of the United States be flown at 
                half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day on all 
                buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the 
                United States

[[Page 31072]]

                and all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I 
                also invite all Americans to display the flag at half-
                staff from their homes on that day.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eleventh day of May, 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. 00-12355
Filed 5-12-00; 11:05 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P