[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 26 (Monday, July 1, 1996)]
[Page 1128]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6905--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Day, 1996

June 24, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
celebrates 50 years of service to our Nation and to people around the 
world. Created from a small organization whose mission was to combat the 
spread of malaria among our troops during World War II, the CDC has 
become our first line of defense against disease, injury, and 
disability.
    The CDC's history boasts a number of notable achievements, including 
its key role in the eradication of smallpox and the discovery of the 
causes of Legionnaire's disease and toxic shock syndrome. The agency has 
also led efforts to control and prevent polio and other vaccine-
preventable diseases, breast and cervical cancer, lead poisoning, 
tuberculosis, and AIDS. Recently, the CDC has been a leader in the 
global efforts to fight emerging infectious illnesses by investigating 
and containing diseases such as the outbreak of plague in India and the 
Ebola outbreak in Africa.
    The CDC's innovative programs also address our national challenges 
of chronic disease, workplace and environmental hazards, injuries, birth 
defects, disabilities, and new infectious threats. In addition, the 
agency gathers and analyzes scientific data to better monitor public 
health, provide a solid foundation for decision-making, and detect risk 
factors.
    While technology and medical progress have worked wonders for many, 
such advances are not always available or practicable. The CDC's 
prevention efforts are essential if we are to ensure that all Americans 
can live in safe, healthy communities. By immunizing our children, 
exercising regularly, and making other healthy choices, each of us can 
join the CDC's efforts to build a brighter future and a stronger Nation.
    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 July 1, 
1996, as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Day. I call upon all 
the people of the United States to join me in observing this tribute to 
the CDC, to recognize the need for preventive health measures, and to 
strive throughout the year to realize the CDC's vision: Healthy people 
in a healthy world--through prevention.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth 
day of June, 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., June 25, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on June 
26.