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

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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.