[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 125, 112th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 8675 of May 13, 2011

National Defense Transportation Day and National Transportation Week,
2011
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
America has long depended on a robust and reliable transportation
network to support our drive towards lasting security and prosperity.
Our highways, railroads, ports, and airways allow us to move around our
country quickly and efficiently. Effective transportation systems have
helped our economy grow, our first responders save lives, and our Armed
Forces mobilize.
The freedom of movement created by America's transportation
infrastructure facilitates our Nation's economic vitality. Our ability
to travel safely enables us to trade with our neighbors and visit our
friends and family. It provides Americans from every corner of our
country access to the first-rate products and services that define our
economy, increasing the productivity of our people and our land. Our
transportation system also permits our military to move personnel and
supplies at a moment's notice. The ability to deploy rapidly empowers
our men and women in uniform to respond to crises or natural disasters
at home and abroad with urgency.
Maintaining the transportation networks that earlier generations
bequeathed to us is a challenge, and we must do more than preserve the
status quo. We need to develop a 21st-century transportation network--
one that is safer, more energy-efficient, more environmentally
sustainable, and offers more transportation choices to our citizens than
the one we inherited.
As we celebrate the legacy of our Nation's transportation arteries, we
recognize the world is now more connected and more competitive than ever
before. New companies around the world look for the fastest and most
reliable ways to move people and goods. To attract new businesses to our
shores, we must rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and continue to
invest in the modernization of our infrastructure. We must repair our
highways, reengineer our railroads into high-speed rail networks, and
ready ourselves for the next revolutionary breakthroughs in
transportation technology. We must provide increased transportation
options that cut commuting time, ease traffic congestion, reduce oil
consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and expand access to job
opportunities and housing that American families can afford. Together,
we can continue the work started by the American Recovery

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and Reinvestment Act to maintain a world-class logistics network, create
new jobs, and win the future for our children.
In recognition of the importance of our Nation's transportation
infrastructure, and of the men and women who build, maintain, and
utilize it, the Congress has requested, by joint resolution approved May
16, 1957, as amended (36 U.S.C. 120), that the President designate the
third Friday in May of each year as ``National Defense Transportation
Day,'' and, by joint resolution approved May 14, 1962, as amended (36
U.S.C. 133), that the week during which that Friday falls be designated
as ``National Transportation Week.''
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim Friday, May 20, 2011, as National Defense
Transportation Day and May 15 through May 21, 2011, as National
Transportation Week. I call upon all Americans to recognize the
importance of our Nation's transportation infrastructure and to
acknowledge the contributions of those who build, operate, and maintain
it.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
fifth.
BARACK OBAMA