[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 51 (Monday, December 27, 1993)]
[Pages 2613-2614]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6642--Fifth Anniversary Day of Remembrance for the Victims 
of the Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103

 December 17, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This holiday season, while we gather with loved ones, it is 
important to remember those innocents who can no longer celebrate with 
their families because of a cruel and senseless act of terrorism. Four 
days before Christmas in 1988, a bomb exploded aboard Pan American 
Airways Flight 103, killing its 259 passengers and crew, along with 11 
people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Among the passengers from 
21 different nations were 189 Americans who were never to see their 
families again. Today, those responsible for this heinous act are still 
at large.
    We dare not forget the unsuspecting victims of Flight 103. Their 
tragedy reminds us that while our world is abounding with opportunities 
for peace and democracy, it is also filled with danger and uncertainty. 
The threat of terrorism, both at home and abroad, continues to loom as 
wars and instances of ethnic and religious turmoil imperil our vision 
for a safer world.
    We must remain ever vigilant if we are to combat merciless brutality 
and ensure the security of all of our citizens. My Administration is 
closely monitoring the terrorist threat in order to make the changes 
needed to create a secure future and to avert the kind of murderous 
tragedy that occurred in the skies over Scotland. In this holiday 
season, our hearts go out to all who lost loved ones in the bombing of 
Flight 103--for them, the loss is incalculable. We pledge to remember 
the victims of this outrage and to recommit ourselves to bringing the 
perpetrators to justice, so that we may truly create a safer, more 
peaceful world.
    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 December 
21, 1993, as the ``Fifth Anniversary Day of Re- 

[[Page 2614]]

membrance for the Victims of the Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.'' I call 
upon the people of the United States to observe this day with 
appropriate ceremonies.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day 
of December, 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, 2:31 p.m., December 20, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on December 20, and it was published in the Federal Register 
on December 22.