[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60567-60568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26298]



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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 7352--German-American Day, 2000
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 7352 of October 5, 2000

                
German-American Day, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As we celebrate German-American Day and the many 
                contributions that German Americans have made to our 
                national community, we also mark the 10th anniversary 
                of German unification. The historic achievements of the 
                last 10 years are all the more remarkable when we 
                remember the dark days of the Cold War, a time when 
                many citizens in Eastern Europe and around the globe 
                lived under governments of oppression and tyranny. 
                Nowhere was the threat more real than in West Berlin, 
                where Americans and Germans stood together in defense 
                of democracy and commitment to freedom. Ultimately, 
                after almost three decades of division, the Berlin Wall 
                came down and the people of Germany were reunited. 
                Today, Americans and Germans are working together to 
                ensure that democracy will be an abiding legacy for 
                future generations throughout Europe.

                Our present efforts are only the latest chapter of our 
                shared history. In 1683, German Mennonites seeking 
                religious tolerance landed near Philadelphia. Their 
                arrival marked the beginning of waves of German 
                immigration that would ebb and flow with the tides of 
                history, ultimately bringing more than 7 million people 
                to our shores. Today, nearly a quarter of all Americans 
                can trace their ancestry back to their Germanic roots, 
                and they continue to enrich our Nation with a proud 
                heritage marked by a strong commitment to family, work, 
                duty, and country.

                Many prominent German Americans have strengthened our 
                society through the years. Publisher Johann Peter 
                Zenger championed freedom of the press in the early 
                18th century, and Thomas Nast's powerful cartoons 
                increased public awareness of corruption within Tammany 
                Hall in 19th-century New York. During the American 
                Revolution, Baron de Kalb and Friedrich von Steuben 
                fought valiantly for our freedom, just as Dwight 
                Eisenhower and Chester Nimitz did in World War II. 
                German Americans who have enriched America's cultural, 
                scientific, and economic life include writers John 
                Steinbeck and Erich Maria Remarque; physicists Albert 
                Einstein and Maria Goeppert-Mayer; philosophers Hannah 
                Arendt and Paul Tillich; and industrialists and 
                business leaders John D. Rockefeller and John 
                Wanamaker.

                Behind the many well-known individuals who have played 
                a prominent part in our history are millions of German 
                immigrants whose names are not widely recognized, yet 
                who profoundly shaped the America we know today. 
                Industrious German Americans helped settle our cities 
                and frontiers; defend democracy during times of 
                conflict; promote our prosperity in times of peace; and 
                preserve the bonds of family and heritage that our 
                Nation shares with the people of Germany. As we 
                celebrate German-American Day and the 10th anniversary 
                of German unification and look ahead to the promise of 
                a new century, America recognizes with pride and 
                gratitude the important role that German Americans 
                continue to play in the life of our Nation and 
                celebrates the strength of our friendship with Germany.

                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 the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, October 6, 
                2000, as German-American Day. I encourage all Americans 
                to remember

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                and celebrate the important contributions made to our 
                country by our millions of citizens of German descent 
                and to celebrate our close ties to the people of 
                Germany.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth day of October, 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. 00-26298
Filed 10-10-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P