[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 29 (Monday, July 26, 1993)]
[Page 1431]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6581--National Veterans Golden Age Games Week

 July 22, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Today, as many veterans reach their senior years, they are 
discovering the benefits of physical fitness and recreational activity. 
In Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities, recreation 
has become an established part of the rehabilitation process. VA 
experience and research show that sports and competitive involvement can 
be enriching because of their physical benefits and because of their 
role in enhancing social, emotional, and psychological well-being.
    Recognizing the need to establish meaningful activities for a 
rapidly growing number of aging veterans, the VA established the 
National Veterans Golden Age Games in 1983. Since then, numerous 
veterans have boosted their health and aided their rehabilitation 
through participation in this showcase program. These competitors remind 
us of the value of continued physical activity throughout a person's 
life and the physical goals and fulfillment we can achieve, regardless 
of age. These games demonstrate that age is no barrier to living life to 
its fullest.
    The 7th National Veterans Golden Age Games, being held at Mountain 
Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers a multi-event 
program of recreational competition for veterans, aged 55 and over, who 
are currently receiving VA medical care. Veterans whose military service 
covers the span of American history from World War I to Vietnam will 
participate.
    The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 190, has designated July 17, 
1993, through July 23, 1993, as ``National Veterans Golden Age Games 
Week'' and has authorized and requested the President to issue a 
proclamation in its observance.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim July 17 through July 23, 1993, as 
National Veterans Golden Age Games Week. I urge all Americans to observe 
the week by remembering our hospitalized older veterans as they struggle 
to overcome infirmity and disability and to renew their own commitment 
to personal well-being through healthy recreational activity.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second 
day of July, 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 eighteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:27 p.m., July 23, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
July 27.