[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 1995)]
[Pages 604-605]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6784--Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 1995

April 10, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The peoples of the Americas today live in a world of great promise. 
Fundamental democratic principles, such as the rule of law and free and 
fair elections, are being embraced throughout the hemisphere. In perhaps 
one of the most eloquent expressions of the commitment of American 
nations to democratic rule, Jean Bertrand Aristide was restored to his 
elected position as President of Haiti. Open markets work, democratic 
governments are just--and together they offer the best hope for 
improving the quality of life for all of us.
    As we celebrate Pan American Day, 1995, we recognize that the 
nations of the Western Hemisphere are interdependent, and our futures 
are intertwined. We are bound together by our shared commitment to 
democracy, human rights, market economics, and effective governance. 
These common ideals have enabled us to form an extraordinary network of 
cooperation, encompassing endeavors from trade and environmental 
protection to science and technology.
    The countries of the Americas have taken important steps to open 
their economies, create new jobs, and expand opportunities for

[[Page 605]]

their citizens. These reforms represent a historic break with the past 
and begin to pave the road toward higher standards of living in the 21st 
century. The North American Free Trade Agreement marks an additional 
milestone on the way to the hemispheric free trade agreement envisioned 
at the Summit of the Americas.
    At that summit in December of this past year, the 34 democratically 
elected leaders of the hemisphere determined to make our governments 
more effective, our economic growth more sustainable, and our 
environments safer and healthier. Our deliberations there were guided by 
a vital spirit of cooperation, and we continue to move forward today 
with the knowledge that, now more than ever, the economic prosperity of 
each of our countries depends on the progress of our neighbors.
    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 Friday, 
April 14, 1995, as Pan American Day and the week of April 9 through 
April 15, 1995, as Pan American Week. I urge the Governors of the 50 
States, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 
officials of other areas under the flag of the United States to honor 
these observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
nineteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 5:01 p.m., April 10, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
12.