[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 25, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 45701-45702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18914]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 143 / Tuesday, July 25, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 45701]]

                Proclamation 7331 of July 21, 2000

                
Parents' Day, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Parents play a crucial role in shaping our lives and 
                the life of our Nation. They nurture us as infants when 
                we are unable to help ourselves, protect us as toddlers 
                when we wander into trouble, encourage us as 
                adolescents when we dream about the future, and guide 
                us as adults as we face the challenges and 
                opportunities of our own families and careers. It is 
                through their care that we learn the invaluable lessons 
                of love, family, and community; and it is through their 
                selflessness that we come to understand the joy of 
                making a difference in the life of another.

                Throughout our Administration, Vice President Gore and 
                I have strived to provide parents with the tools they 
                need to meet their responsibilities. The Family and 
                Medical Leave Act, which I signed in 1993, has allowed 
                more than 20 million Americans to take up to 12 weeks 
                of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or an ailing 
                relative without fear of losing their job. We have also 
                worked to make child care safer, better, and more 
                affordable for millions of families, and we have 
                expanded preschool and after-school programs to give 
                parents more flexibility in balancing the demands of 
                job and family. And we have worked hard for parents to 
                make the dream of a college education for their sons 
                and daughters a reality--with new HOPE scholarships, 
                more work-study opportunities, higher Pell grants, and 
                more affordable student loans.

                Parenting is a lifetime commitment and a lifetime 
                challenge--it involves balancing the demands of family, 
                friends, career, and community. Yet parenting is also 
                one of life's greatest gifts. To hold one's sleeping 
                baby, watch one's children take their first tottering 
                steps and hear them say their first words, boast with 
                pride about their first home run or first music 
                recital, and witness firsthand their journey into 
                adulthood--these are some of the most precious rewards 
                of parenthood.

                Only when we pass from childhood to adulthood can we 
                appreciate the value of our parents and the extent of 
                their sacrifices. For these, we owe our parents--
                whether biological or adoptive, stepparents or foster 
                parents-- a profound debt of gratitude. On Parents' Day 
                and throughout the year, let us pay tribute to 
                America's parents, whose unconditional love and 
                constant devotion have helped create a bright future 
                for the next generation.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States and consistent with Public Law 103-362, do 
                hereby proclaim Sunday, July 23, 2000, as Parents' Day. 
                I call upon all Americans to join together in observing 
                this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities to 
                honor our Nation's parents.

[[Page 45702]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 00-18914
Filed 7-24-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P