[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 12, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77495-77496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31759]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 239 / Tuesday, December 12, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 77495]]

                Proclamation 7385 of December 6, 2000

                
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                While the bitter winds of war raged across much of the 
                world on the morning of December 7, 1941, the United 
                States was still at peace. At Pearl Harbor, the 130 
                vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay tranquil in the 
                Sunday silence. Then, at 7:55 a.m., that silence was 
                shattered by the sound of falling bombs and the rattle 
                of machine-gun fire, as the war came home to America.

                In making such a devastating preemptive strike, the 
                forces of Imperial Japan sought to weaken our national 
                spirit and cripple our military might. But our 
                attackers would soon learn that they had seriously 
                misjudged the character of the American people and the 
                strength of our democracy. Though 21 ships were sunk or 
                badly damaged, 347 aircraft destroyed or in need of 
                significant repair, and some 3,500 Americans dead or 
                injured, the attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized our 
                Nation into action, reaffirmed our commitment to 
                freedom, and strengthened our resolve to prevail.

                Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, millions of 
                Americans volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces. 
                Millions of others filled factories and shipyards as 
                the great industrial engine of our free enterprise 
                system was harnessed to produce the planes, tanks, 
                ships, and guns that armed the forces of freedom. Many 
                of the ships sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor 
                were raised and repaired to sail once again with the 
                U.S. Pacific Fleet--the same fleet that in September of 
                1945 would witness the surrender of Imperial Japan.

                On Veterans Day this year, America celebrated the 
                groundbreaking for a memorial in our Nation's capital 
                dedicated to our World War II veterans. This memorial 
                will stand as a testament to the countless brave 
                Americans who responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor 
                and the threat to our freedom by answering the call to 
                service; both at home and overseas. It will also stand 
                as testament to the spirit of a Nation that believes 
                profoundly in the ideals upon which it was founded, and 
                it will serve as an enduring reminder of what Americans 
                can accomplish when we work together to achieve our 
                common goals.

                The outpouring of support for this memorial, from young 
                and old alike, shows that the American people's deep 
                conviction in our Nation's values has not diminished in 
                the intervening years. We will never forget the men and 
                women who took up arms in the greatest struggle 
                humanity has ever known; nor will we forget the lessons 
                they taught us: that we must remain ever vigilant, 
                determined, and ready to advance the cause of freedom 
                whenever and wherever it is threatened.

                The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, has designated 
                December 7, 2000, as ``National Pearl Harbor 
                Remembrance Day.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 
                7, 2000, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I 
                urge all Americans to observe this day with appropriate 
                programs, ceremonies, and activities in honor of the 
                Americans who served at Pearl Harbor. I also ask all 
                Federal departments and agencies, organizations,

[[Page 77496]]

                and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at 
                half- staff on this day in honor of those Americans who 
                died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixth day of December, 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. 00-31759
Filed 12-11-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P