[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 42 (Monday, October 23, 1995)]
[Pages 1846-1847]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6841--National Character Counts Week, 1995

October 14, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The children of today will be tomorrow's leaders, educators, 
caregivers, and parents. As we seek to prepare our Nation for the 
challenges of the future, we must reaffirm America's deepest beliefs and 
instill in our youth the principles of opportunity, responsibility, and 
community that have always united our citizens. Emphasizing both 
individual and social duties, character education helps us toward that 
goal and reminds us that our country's strength has long been drawn from 
fundamental ideas.
    Families have always held the primary obligation for teaching values 
to their children. Schools, too, play a vital role in reinforcing the 
basic precepts of good citizenship--fairness and honesty, respect for 
oneself and for others, and personal accountability. My Administration's 
education agenda is dedicated to raising standards for academics and 
discipline so that young people will have the essential tools they need 
to succeed. Our Goals 2000: Educate America Act embraces the importance 
of parental involvement in the learning process, recognizing that family 
participation encourages children to value scholarship and to adopt 
strong values. Character education programs can increase school 
performance as well, and the Improving America's Schools Act promotes 
such initiatives.
    As Americans, we are called upon to fulfill the obligations of 
citizenship in many ways. As our Nation observes this special week, let 
us remember our responsibilities to children and do everything in our 
power to inspire in them the moral and ethical standards that will, in 
turn, help them to become productive, integral members of our society.
    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 October 
15 through October 21, 1995, as National Character Counts Week. I call 
upon government officials; educators; religious, community, and business 
leaders; and all the people of the United States to work for the 
preservation of traditional values and to commemorate this week with 
appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 
of October, 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 twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[[Page 1847]]

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:38 a.m., October 17, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on October 16, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
October 18.