[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1993)]
[Pages 447-448]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6536--National Poison Prevention Week, 1993

 March 17, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Since its inception more than three decades ago, the annual 
observance of National Poison Prevention Week has saved lives. Along 
with year-round educational programs in the public and private sectors, 
this annual campaign for awareness has helped to reduce dramatically the 
number of fatal accidental poisonings among children. In the effort to 
protect every child from poisoning, which is nearly always preventable, 
we renew our commitment to informing parents, grandparents, and other 
adults about the importance of protecting children in their homes. The 
urgency of our efforts is underscored by the fact that, according to the 
American Association of Poison Control Centers, nearly 1,000,000 
children each year are exposed to potentially harmful medicines and 
household chemicals.
    During National Poison Prevention Week, activities are coordinated 
by the Poison Prevention Week Council, a coalition of 37 national 
organizations whose members are determined to stop accidental 
poisonings. The Council distributes valuable information that is used by 
the staffs of poison control centers, pharmacists, public health 
officials, and others as they conduct poison prevention programs in 
their communities. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission 
provides a Commission member to serve as Secretary of the Poison 
Prevention Week Council each year. Since 1972, the Commission has 
required child-resistant packaging for certain medicines and household 
chemicals, preventing countless tragedies.
    Every American can help to protect children with simple safety 
measures, such as using child-resistant packaging and securing 
potentially dangerous substances out of the reach of children. This week 
I encourage all Americans to become more aware of potential hazards in 
their homes and to eliminate them.

    The Congress, by a joint resolution approved September 26, 1961 (75 
Stat. 681), has authorized and requested the President to issue a 
proclamation designating the third week of March of each year as 
National Poison Prevention Week.

    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning March 21, 1993, 
as National Poison Prevention Week. I urge all Americans to observe this 
week by participating in appropriate programs and activities and by 
learning how to prevent accidental poisonings among children.

    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day 
of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
seventeenth.
                                            William J. Clinton


[[Page 448]]



[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 5:08 p.m., March 18, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
22.