    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 19 (Monday, May 16, 1994)]
    [Page 1008]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6684--National Walking Week, 1994

    May 6, 1994

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        We should all be aware of the benefits of regular physical activity;
    it can improve our energy levels while we expend calories. It can be as
    simple to incorporate into our daily lives as taking the stairs instead
    of the elevator, walking an extra block instead of riding, or taking a
    walk after a meal instead of taking a nap. Regular physical exercise can
    help to prevent and manage coronary heart disease, hypertension,
    noninsulin-dependent diabetes, osteoporosis, and mental health problems,
    such as depression and anxiety. And regular physical activity has been
    associated with lower rates of colon cancer and incidence of stroke.
        Walking is an excellent form of light to moderate physical activity
    for most people. Walking for at least 30 minutes each day is a simple
    and inexpensive, yet very healthful, thing to do. It is a key element in
    Healthy People 2000, the Nation's prevention agenda, which envisions a
    healthier America by the year 2000. An increase in this important,
    positive health-related exercise can have a significant effect on the
    enhanced quality and life span of those who practice it. It is an
    invigorating form of self-care that can contribute to the reduction of
    preventable death, disease, and disability and to the containment of
    health care costs. It also provides a time for reflection and stress
    reduction.
        Efforts to communicate with the American people about the health
    benefits of regular walking and to improve environments that make
    walking pleasurable and safe deserve the support of policy makers,
    legislators, and citizens throughout the country.
        The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 146, has designated May 1,
    1994, through May 7, 1994, as ``National Walking Week'' and has
    authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in
    observance of this week.
        Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United
    States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 1994, through May 7, 1994,
    as National Walking Week. I invite the Governors of the 50 States and
    the appropriate officials of all other areas under the jurisdiction of
    the United States to issue similar proclamations. I also encourage the
    American people to join with health and recreation professionals,
    private voluntary associations, and other concerned organizations in
    observing this occasion with appropriate programs and activities.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of
    May, 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, 2:08 p.m., May 9, 1994]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 10.
    This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate
    issue.