[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 40 (Monday, October 7, 1996)]
[Pages 1950-1951]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6924--National Student Voter Education Day, 1996

October 2, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This election season marks the 25th anniversary of suffrage for 
Americans between the ages of 18 and 20. With the ratification of the 
26th amendment to the Constitution in July of 1971, which lowered the 
voting age from 21 to 18, our Nation placed its trust in these young 
people and gave them a clearer voice in the halls of government.
    America's bold experiment in self-government has inspired over 200 
years of struggle for a more complete sense of justice and freedom, an 
effort etched in the history of the Constitution and its amendments. 
Emancipation, women's suffrage, civil rights, voting rights--all of 
these battles were fought and won by citizens of conscience and 
conviction who joined together to bring our Nation closer to the ideals 
enshrined in our Constitution of full and equal representation and 
participation.
    Since 1971, America's young adults have taken their rightful place 
in this march toward true democracy and opportunity. Living up to the 
trust placed in them and meeting this profound responsibility of 
citizenship, they have voted in large numbers and have played a crucial 
role in choosing leaders and defining issues at the local, State, and 
national levels. Generous in spirit, optimistic and idealistic in 
outlook, they have often proved to be the conscience of our Nation.

[[Page 1951]]

    Now we are entering a new era in our national existence. We are 
approaching a time unlike any in our past, in which ideas and 
information will move around the world at unprecedented speed, and in 
which there will be more opportunity for people to live out their dreams 
than ever before. I strongly urge today's young Americans to step 
forward and accept the challenge of helping to shape our Nation as we 
move into the 21st century. Register to vote, study the issues and the 
candidates, and think seriously about what kind of country you want 
America to be. And then, like the millions of Americans who have gone 
before you, exercise what may be your most important right--the right to 
vote.
    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 
2, 1996, as National Student Voter Education Day, I call upon Federal, 
State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, educational, 
and religious organizations to conduct meaningful ceremonies and 
programs in their schools, churches, and other community gathering 
places to foster a better understanding of the 26th amendment to the 
U.S. Constitution and the rights and duties of citizenship.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of 
October, 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 
twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton
      

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 3, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
4.