[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 16 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Pages 681-682]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6790--National Volunteer Week, 1995

April 21, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Our ancestors built this Nation on the spirit of independence and 
the strength of community. Yesterday's Americans came together to raise 
a barn, till a farm, or teach a child to write. They came together to 
care for one another and to lift up their neighbors in need. For rich 
and poor, old and young, giving their talents to benefit the community 
was the most fundamental responsibility of American citizenship.
    Through the years, this basic ideal has endured. Service remains the 
noblest quality of the American character. Our people still come 
together to build a house, plant a garden, or tutor a child. Elementary 
school students help older Americans in their daily lives. Seniors help 
struggling teenagers stay out of trouble. Countless dedicated citizens 
claim our country's challenges as their own. Their service sets a 
powerful example of leadership and compassion for each of us to follow.
    As a partner in progress, government can expand and strengthen this 
great American legacy. AmeriCorps, the Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve 
America now provide service opportunities for more than a million of our 
citizens. These initiatives enable us to

[[Page 682]]

keep faith with the covenant of citizenship. This week, we celebrate the 
tens of millions of volunteers who give their time, their energy, and 
their hearts to making our world a better place.
    We are indeed fortunate that, even as we face difficult problems in 
our streets, schools, homes, and communities, citizens are volunteering 
to help one another in numerous ways. Some spend a few hours every week. 
Others give entire days--even years--of their lives to service. Each 
makes a lasting contribution to the substance and the spirit of 
community in America. And each helps lead us into an ever brighter 
future.
    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 April 23 
through April 29, 1995, as ``National Volunteer Week.'' I call upon all 
Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, 
and activities in expression of their commitment.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first 
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, 10:47 a.m., April 24, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
April 25.