[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 9 (Monday, March 4, 1996)]
[Pages 382-383]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6866--American Red Cross Month, 1996

February 26, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Since its founding in 1881 by Clara Barton, the American Red Cross 
has brought hope and healing to citizens and communities across the 
country. Today, some 1.4 million trained volunteers work to fulfill the 
Red Cross' mission by providing relief to disaster victims; by ensuring 
that our Nation has an adequate and safe blood supply; by training 
millions of Americans in essential lifesaving and safety techniques; and 
by assisting members of our Armed Forces, their families, and our 
distinguished veterans.
    This past year, the American Red Cross has carried on its 
extraordinary legacy across the country and around the world. When a 
bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on 
April 19, the Red Cross was there within minutes to assist those whose 
loved ones were killed in the tragic blast. After a series of record-
breaking storms and hurricanes ruined houses and displaced people, the 
Red Cross served more than a million meals and helped victims to begin 
rebuilding their lives. And today, as OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR works to 
secure the peace in Bosnia, the Red Cross is facilitating emergency 
communications between our troops and their families at home.
    The Red Cross has earned our Nation's deepest respect and 
appreciation for its important lifesaving and life-rebuilding work and 
for its countless daily efforts to promote health and safety. This month 
and throughout the year, let us take time to recognize this vital 
organization and do all we can to further its goals of preventing, 
preparing for, and responding to emergencies.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, by 
virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, do hereby proclaim March 1996, as American Red Cross 
Month. I urge all the people of the United States to support Red Cross 
chapters nationwide by volunteering and participating in Red Cross blood 
drives.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth 
day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-
six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two 
hundred and twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., February 27, 
1996]

[[Page 383]]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
February 28.