    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 25 (Monday, June 27, 1994)]
    [Pages 1323-1324]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6703--50th Anniversary of the GI Bill of Rights

    June 21, 1994

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        Fifty years ago, on June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
    signed into law The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944--``The GI Bill
    of Rights''--described by many historians as America's greatest single
    piece of social legislation from that time period. President Roosevelt
    said that the passage of the GI Bill gave ``emphatic notice to the men
    and women of our Armed Forces that the American people do not intend to
    let them down.''
        That promise to meet the needs of a highly trained and motivated
    military was well kept by the original GI Bill and has been renewed and
    revised with each succeeding generation of veterans. Today, those
    guarantees of assistance--from education to home purchase, from job
    training to medical treatment--are part of every veteran's expectations.
    They extend beyond active duty service personnel, to include reservists
    and surviving spouses, as well.
        The GI Bill has made life better for all Americans. As it eased the
    transition of millions of World War II veterans into civilian life, it
    paved the way for an unparalleled period of U.S. economic growth and
    development, while reaffirming the vital importance of our Nation's
    Armed Forces.
        GI Bill home loan provisions underwrote the largest housing boom in
    our country's history. Now, most Americans may reasonably look forward
    to owning their own homes at some time during their lives.
        GI Bill educational benefits spurred nearly 8 million World War II
    veterans on to higher education. It transformed the Nation's education
    infrastructure and made college education and technical training
    realistic options after high school for those who may otherwise not have
    been able to afford these advantages.
        This half-century investment of more than $65 billion has been
    repaid to the American taxpayer time and time again. The Nation has been
    enhanced by the increased earning power and expanded economic activity
    directly attributable to the GI Bill. It is gratifying to note that our
    veterans have utilized these benefits to the fullest extent. Their
    energy, initiative, and ability have allowed them to make the most of
    this enduring promise. As they gave their best to the Nation while they
    were in uniform, they also gave us their best as civilians with the help
    of the GI Bill.
        It is to them and to the pioneers who created and crafted the
    original GI Bill legislation during the dark days of World War II, that
    we as a Nation owe our heartfelt grati-

    [[Page 1324]]

    tude this day. This measure opened the door to the American dream of
    opportunity for advancement to an entire generation of young Americans.
        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 June 22,
    1994, as ``GI Bill of Rights Day'' celebrating the 50th anniversary of
    enactment of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 and the
    subsequent legislation that has extended its promise. I encourage all
    Americans, as well as civic, veterans, educational, business, and news
    media organizations, to join me in honoring this true American success
    story and those veterans and visionaries who made it possible.
        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 United States of America the two hundred
    and eighteenth.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:32 a.m., June 22,
    1994]

    Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press
    Secretary on June 22, and it was published in the Federal Register on
    June 23.