[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 9 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Pages 404-405]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6651--National Poison Prevention Week, 1994

March 1, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Keeping families healthy is an integral part of strengthening our 
Nation's future. It is the cornerstone in America's efforts to provide 
security for every one of our citizens. Yet, in this great Nation of 
wisdom and unparalleled potential, the American Association of Poison 
Control Centers estimates that almost one million American children are 
exposed to potentially poisonous medicines and household chemicals each 
year. This single statistic is appalling, but it is also correctable, 
for we are certain in the knowledge that accidental poisonings are 
preventable. This week, we recognize that it is one of our duties as a 
society to do everything in our power to prevent injuries and deaths 
caused by poisoning.
    As the United States observes the 33rd National Poison Prevention 
Week, we are able to celebrate some small, but significant, triumphs. 
That the number of childhood deaths from poisoning annually has declined 
from 450 to 49 over the past thirty years is a testament to the 
dedicated efforts of countless citizens actively involved with poison 
control programs across the country. National requirements of child-
resistant packaging for medicines have helped to limit dangerous 
exposure. Poison control centers, pharmacies, and public health centers 
have worked together to distribute vital information regarding poison 
prevention to our families and communities, and these measures have, 
indeed, saved lives.
    If we are to end the tragedy of childhood poisonings once and for 
all, we must continually remind ourselves to take the basic steps 
necessary to prevent this occurrence in our own homes. Safety measures, 
such as using child-resistant packaging correctly and keeping 
potentially harmful substances out of children's reach, can mean the 
difference between health and injury, between life and death. During 
this week, we must seek to educate ourselves and others about all the 
ways we can work to avoid this kind of senseless loss. America's parents 
must take primary responsibility for this effort. Our Nation's children 
deserve no less.
    To encourage the American people to learn more about the dangers of 
accidental poisonings and to take more preventive measures, the 
Congress, by joint resolution approved September 26, 1961 (75 Stat. 
681), has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation 
designating the third week of March of each year as ``National Poison 
Prevention Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning March 20, 1994, 
as National Poison Prevention Week. I call upon all Americans to observe 
this week by participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities and 
by learning how to prevent accidental poisonings among children.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of 
March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, 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, 4:17 p.m., March 1, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
3.

[[Page 405]]