    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 25 (Monday, June 27, 1994)]
    [Pages 1316-1317]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6702--National Housing Week, 1994

    June 21, 1994

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        Homeownership is a great anchor of safety and security in an
    uncertain world, one of America's most potent symbols of freedom and
    responsibility, of opportunity and prosperity. The Federal Housing
    Administration (FHA) has helped to make homeownership and decent
    affordable housing a reality for millions of Americans, who otherwise
    might not have had the opportunity.
        On this, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the FHA, our
    Nation must rededicate itself to renewing the effort upon which it
    embarked in 1934 to expand homeownership opportunities for millions of
    Americans. For shelter is not only a basic human need--it also affects
    our physical and mental well-being, provides us with a sense of
    security, and is the focus of family living.
        America is a country of many blessings--a rich land, a thriving
    democracy, a diverse and determined people. Our culture is built on
    faith in freedom and on the spirit of community. In a nation of such
    infinite promise, the continuing problem of homelessness is a national
    tragedy. We must seek a proper balance of compassion and practicality if
    we are to end the terrible plight of our society's dispossessed.
        Homelessness is not a short-term emergency. It demands longer term,
    broader solutions--an array of services to meet the different needs of
    people who find themselves on the streets. Toward this end, my
    Administration is proposing a new rent structure for publicly assisted
    housing, and we are expanding on innovative ways to create a new
    partnership between cities and the Federal Government to provide those
    in need with critical social services and permanent housing.
        As a direct result of the action taken by the Congress and President
    Franklin D. Roosevelt in creating the FHA, housing finance was
    revolutionized, new standards of housing industry innovation and
    consumer protection were created, and the dream of homeownership for
    more than 21 million American families has since been realized through
    FHA funding. Housing is vital to the economic and social well-being of
    our Nation, and it is essential to the vitality and stability of our
    communities today, just as it was 60 years ago.
        In the years since the Great Depression, the FHA has come to
    symbolize America's commitment to expanding opportunity for improved
    housing and homeownership. As the challenges facing the Nation during
    the birth of FHA were formidable, so are the challenges facing our
    Nation today.
        We recognize the importance of a decent home and suitable living
    environment as a national goal for every American family. The
    contributions of the FHA toward the attainment of that goal are a
    crucial step in helping to save countless people from a lonely, often
    frightening existence. Working together, we can restore hope and dignity
    to the lives of the many Americans who have no place to call home.
        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 the week
    of June 20 through June 27, 1994, as ``National Housing Week,'' and I
    call upon the people of the United States and interested groups and
    organizations to observe this week with appropriate activities and
    events. Let us renew the commitment made 60 years ago and rededicate our
    Nation to the unfinished business of housing and community development
    for all Americans.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first
    day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four,
    and of the Independence of the Unit-

    [[Page 1317]]

    ed States of America the two hundred and eighteenth.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:51 p.m., June 21,
    1994]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on June
    23.