[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 12 (Monday, March 29, 1993)]
[Pages 465-466]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6538--National Agriculture Day, 1993

 March 20, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    On this first day of spring, it is appropriate that we reflect on 
America's agricultural heritage. Our history and our future are 
intertwined with the farmland and the farmers who help nourish and 
clothe us. Farming, an integral and pervasive aspect of our economy, is 
critically important in the daily lives of all Americans.
    In our markets, farmers offer us the world's safest and most diverse 
food supply. But agriculture also touches every other facet of our 
lives: from shirts to schoolbooks, from prescription drugs to the lumber 
in our homes. The quality of our lives is due in large measure to the 
efficient productivity of agricultural workers.
    Agriculture, America's number one industry, provides 21 million jobs 
and is the single largest contributor to our net trade balance. The 
average American farmer produces enough every year to feed and clothe 
129 other people.
    As efficient and productive as they are in meeting our citizens' 
basic needs, our farmers have contributed just as much to our culture. 
They helped found and build our Nation, and our calendar and holidays 
still reflect the seasons around which they weave their lives. When 
American food alleviates the hunger of starving children at home or

[[Page 466]]

abroad, we are all enriched. Farmers and farmworkers have always 
exemplified the virtues of patient hard work, of respect for the land, 
with an understanding of our responsibility as stewards of the Earth, of 
careful management of limited resources, and of resiliency in the face 
of natural disasters.
    On this day, I ask all Americans to consider our reliance on 
agriculture--the farmers, scientists, processors, shippers, grocers, and 
others who spend their days providing us with the basics of a good life.
    The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 36, has designated March 
20, 1993, as ``National Agriculture Day'' and has authorized and 
requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this 
day.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim March 20, 1993, as National 
Agriculture Day. I urge the people of the United States to observe this 
day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth 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

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:25 p.m., March 22, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
24.