[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 46 (Monday, November 22, 1993)]
[Pages 2383-2384]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6625--Thanksgiving Day, 1993

 November 17, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    From the beginnings of our Nation, we have sought to recognize the 
providence and mercy of God with words and acts of gratitude, indeed 
with effort and energy toward helping others wherever need occurred. In 
the colorful days and weeks when the autumn of the year brings ripe and 
fruitful harvest across our land, Americans give thanks for many 
blessings. It is a time of bounty and generosity, a time to come 
together in peace.
    This is the true spirit of Thanksgiving: acknowledging God's 
graciousness, and in response, reaching out in service to others. This 
spirit was apparent in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621, when Pilgrim 
immigrants sat down with Native Americans and celebrated their common 
harvest.
    This same spirit of Thanksgiving inspires our great Nation and our 
people to act with justice and concern toward all the peoples of the 
world and toward one another here at home. We are grateful for the 
dramatic progress made towards a comprehensive peace in the Middle East 
and for the Agree- 

[[Page 2384]]

ment signed in our United States; we are thankful for the relief efforts 
that our Nation and others have undertaken where natural disasters have 
struck unmercifully.
    Still, in this final decade of the twentieth century, we face great 
challenges. The troubled areas of our world continue to challenge our 
ability to find peaceful and equitable solutions. On this Thanksgiving 
Day, the hospitality and harmony of loved ones, friends, and neighbors, 
remind each of us that we belong to the larger family of mankind.
    As we gather together during this sacred and cherished time, let us 
pledge to build a new America where everyone will have a place at the 
table, and no one will be left out. In this way we will truly maintain 
the spirit of Thanksgiving that has enriched our country since its 
beginnings. While recognizing the importance of individual 
responsibility, we will continue to place the strength and benevolence 
of this great Nation at the service of all its people, indeed of all the 
peoples of the earth. Then, in these richer years, we will reap a true 
and fruitful harvest.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, 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 Thursday, 
November 25, 1993, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the 
citizens of this great Nation to gather in their homes, places of 
worship, or wherever they may choose to express heartfelt thanks for the 
abundance bestowed on us throughout our history.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day 
of November, 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, 10:20 a.m., November 18, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 19.