[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2002)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68017-68018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28711]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 217 / Friday, November 8, 2002 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 68017]]

                Proclamation 7622 of November 5, 2002

                
In Celebration of the Centennial of the West Wing 
                of the White House, 2002

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For 100 years, the West Wing of the White House has 
                served as the workplace of the President of the United 
                States and his staff. Now housing the Oval Office, the 
                Roosevelt Room, Cabinet Room, offices of the 
                President's senior staff, and the James C. Brady Press 
                Briefing Room, the West Wing has become the center of 
                executive branch operation.

                Prior to 1902, the President and his staff worked out 
                of offices housed in the White House Residence, causing 
                crowded staff conditions and a lack of privacy for the 
                President's family. This overcrowding prompted planning 
                for the construction of a new wing to serve as offices 
                for the President and his staff. While plans were 
                reviewed during several Administrations, construction 
                did not begin until Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. 
                The wing was completed in 1902, and the Presidential 
                Offices were then moved from the Residence to the new 
                addition. The wing underwent a major expansion in 1909, 
                doubling its size, and further renovations were done in 
                1929, 1934, and 1969.

                Following a Christmas Eve fire in 1929, renovations and 
                restoration displaced Herbert Hoover for several months 
                while new and improved facilities were built. In 1934 
                the Oval Office was moved to its current location on 
                the southeast corner, over looking the Rose Garden. In 
                the 1940's, the building became known as the ``West 
                Wing.''

                For a century, the West Wing has served as the 
                headquarters of White House staff members who work to 
                address national and international concerns, advance 
                democracy, and secure a future of opportunity for all. 
                Government and military leaders, Olympic athletes, 
                college champions, artists, entertainers, and citizens 
                from around the world have been welcomed to the West 
                Wing to attend briefings, meetings, bill signing 
                ceremonies, and countless activities that have 
                contributed to the prosperity and security of our 
                Nation and the world. As we celebrate its 100th 
                anniversary, I encourage all Americans to recognize the 
                vital role the West Wing has played in the ongoing work 
                to ensure that the United States of America remains a 
                beacon of freedom, and symbol of hope.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, November 6, 2002, 
                as West Wing Centennial Day. I encourage all Americans 
                to commemorate this occasion with appropriate programs 
                and activities, thereby celebrating this important part 
                of our American heritage and the values it represents 
                and upholds for our Nation and the world.

[[Page 68018]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 02-28711
Filed 11-7-02; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P