[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 1996)]
[Pages 2009-2010]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6933--Child Health Day, 1996

October 7, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The health of our children is part of our heritage as a Nation, 
passed from one generation to the next. It is also our hope for the 
future. Our children embody our dreams and are the vessel through which 
we seek an ever deeper understanding of the full reach of human promise. 
Their physical, mental, and social well-being is the fulfillment of that 
potential.
    For previous generations, diseases were a deadly shadow hovering 
over every new birth. Thanks in large part to medical advances and 
improved public health practices, most of today's children are no longer 
threatened by these afflictions. Childhood immunizations alone have 
saved countless American lives in the past decade, and today we are 
increasing our efforts to identify and immunize children who need this 
protection.

[[Page 2010]]

    Since we now have the knowledge and resources to protect our 
children from many childhood diseases--including diphtheria, pertussis, 
poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, and rubella--we have the obligation to 
reach out to our population and do so. Immunization is a cost-effective, 
commonsense means of fighting disease, and States wisely require 
immunizations for schoolchildren and for children attending child care 
centers. I signed the Comprehensive Childhood Immunization Initiative so 
that children will receive the vaccinations they need. The initiative 
makes vaccines affordable for families and improves immunization 
outreach, with the goal that 90 percent of all two-year-olds should be 
fully vaccinated by the year 2000.
    However, even if we achieve complete immunization of all American 
children, our youth today face another potential threat every bit as 
dangerous as disease--the devastation of violence. Children are becoming 
more frequent victims, and violence among children is increasing as they 
emulate the violence in their environment. Each year the tragic effects 
can be seen in the lives of millions of children. It can be observed 
among those who are neglected or abused, of whom more than 1,000 die 
each year. It can be found especially in the lives of those who witness 
violence against a parent--and who themselves face a significant chance 
of becoming victims of that same brutality.
    As a Nation, we must continue our commitment to eliminating violence 
and to strengthening children and families. To that end, we have 
launched initiatives to encourage the use of school uniforms, the 
adoption of curfews, and the intensification of anti-truancy programs. 
And we have also expanded the drug-free school program to include anti-
crime efforts as well, enhancing the overall safety of our schools.
    America's future rests with healthy children and strong families. 
All across this land--within our homes and health care settings; our 
churches and communities; our schools and child care centers; our 
legislatures and halls of justice; our factories, shops, and offices--we 
are all charged with the responsibility to safeguard our legacy by 
protecting and nurturing the bodies, minds, and spirits of our children.
    To emphasize the significance of fostering children's healthy 
development, the Congress, by joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as 
amended (36 U.S.C. 143), has called for the designation of the first 
Monday in October as ``Child Health Day'' and has requested the 
President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 7, 1996, as Child 
Health Day. On that day and every day throughout the year, I urge all 
Americans to renew and deepen their commitment to protecting our most 
precious natural resource--our children.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh 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, 11 a.m., October 9, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
10.