[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 20 (Monday, May 22, 1995)]
[Pages 830-831]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6799--National Defense Transportation Day and National 
Transportation Week, 1995

May 12, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    We Americans enjoy the benefits of the finest transportation system 
in the world. Our Nation has built a wide network of airports and 
seaports, railroads and bridges, highways, waterways, and subways. This 
infrastructure is a mainstay of our economy, an essential part of our 
national defense, and the means by which our citizens enjoy 
unprecedented mobility. Such ease of travel unites our land, brings 
cities and communities closer together, and links our society to the 
world.
    Recent international trade agreements have dramatically changed the 
global marketplace, creating new opportunities and expanding horizons 
for all Americans. Our success in this increasingly competitive 
environment depends as never before on transportation. A system that 
moves people and goods safely and efficiently helps us to sell our 
products overseas, spawning new industries and generating jobs at an 
unprecedented rate.
    The national transportation system, with government and industry 
working together, is a keystone of America's national security strategy. 
The world is still an unpredictable

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place, and America continues to have worldwide security and economic 
interests. The national transportation system gives America the 
capability to rapidly move military equipment and personnel to meet 
contingencies, crises, and humanitarian efforts anywhere in the world.
    Today, American transportation is moving forward to embrace the 
exciting possibilities and challenges of the 21st century. Using state-
of-the-art technology, we are developing a single integrated system that 
links all forms of transportation and enables the user--passenger or 
shipper--to choose the service that best meets the immediate need. The 
Department of Transportation is working on a National Transportation 
System to address modern concerns of efficiency and environmental 
safety, and we are looking toward States, communities, and the private 
sector to join in investing strategically in the transportation 
infrastructure of the future.
    This week, Americans honor the men and women who build, maintain, 
and monitor the safety of our transportation system--from air traffic 
controllers to railroad safety inspectors to aerospace machinists 
building the planes of tomorrow. We salute our transportation industry 
workers for their countless contributions to our Nation and for helping 
to ensure that our transportation system remains the finest in the 
world.
    In recognition of the millions of Americans who work every day to 
meet our transportation needs, the Congress, by joint resolution 
approved May 16, 1957 (36 U.S.C. 160), has designated the third Friday 
in May of each year as ``National Defense Transportation Day'' and, by 
joint resolution approved May 14, 1962 (36 U.S.C. 166), declared that 
the week in which that Friday falls be designated ``National 
Transportation Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, May 19, 1995, as National 
Defense Transportation Day and May 14 through May 20, 1995, as National 
Transportation Week. I urge all Americans to observe these occasions 
with appropriate ceremonies and activities, giving due recognition to 
the individuals and organizations that build, operate, safeguard, and 
maintain this country's modern transportation system.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of 
May, 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, 10:58 a.m., May 15, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 16. 
This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate 
issue.