[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 48 (Monday, December 6, 1993)]
[Pages 2468-2469]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6630--National Hospice Month, 1993 and 1994

 November 29, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    As Americans work together to reform our Nation's health care 
system, I am pleased to proclaim November 1993 and 1994 as National 
Hospice Month.
    Hospice is an eminently successful program, a vital health care 
service that allows the terminally ill to die with dignity. It addresses 
the importance of being in a warm, familiar, and comforting environment 
in our last days. This care helps not only in preserving and enhancing 
the patient's quality of life during an illness, but also in giving 
support to the family following the death of a loved one. This attention 
underscores the importance of the needs of the entire family and 
highlights the dedication of this supportive and knowledgeable 
interdisciplinary team.

[[Page 2469]]

    The public and private sectors have forged a unique partnership in 
the development of high standards and new programs for hospice care. 
These and other changes to be brought about by health care reform hold 
the promise for even greater accomplishments as we try to improve the 
quality of life of those most in need. Thus, my Administration is deeply 
committed to maintaining and strengthening these efforts in our health 
care system.
    In recognition of the importance of hospice programs and in honor of 
the many dedicated volunteers and professionals who care for the 
terminally ill and their families, the Congress, by House Joint 
Resolution 159, has designated November 1993 and 1994 as ``National 
Hospice Month'' and has authorized and requested the President to issue 
a proclamation in observance of these months.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim November 1993 and 1994 as National 
Hospice Month. I encourage all Americans to recognize the importance of 
hospice care and to observe these months with appropriate activities and 
programs.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth 
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, 4:29 p.m., November 29, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
December 1.