[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 16 (Monday, April 21, 1997)]
[Pages 515-516]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6986--National Service and Volunteer Week, 1997

April 11, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Citizen service is a vital force in American life, helping to build 
a stronger sense of community and citizenship and engaging Americans to 
meet the obligations we all share. Whether tutoring children, mentoring 
teens, renovating housing, restoring public parks, responding to natural 
disasters, or caring for aging parents and grandparents, those who serve 
and volunteer are strengthening our communities for America's future.
    The era of big government may be over, but the era of big challenges 
for our Nation is surely not. Citizen service reflects one of the most 
basic convictions of our democracy: that we are all responsible for one 
another. It is a very American idea that we meet our challenges not 
through big government or as isolated individuals, but as members of a 
true community, with all of us working together.
    Americans can take pride in knowing that our tradition of service is 
being preserved and expanded. As we recognize the devoted service of our 
Nation's citizens, we must continue to foster the spirit of 
volunteerism, making service the common expectation and experience of 
every American. Working together, we can respond to our shared problems 
and build a better future for the generations to come.
    National Service and Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate the 
American spirit of service and volunteerism and a time to encourage 
citizens to use their individual talents to serve the common good. 
During this week and throughout the year, let us salute all those who 
devote their time, their talents, and their energy to improving our 
communities--through organizations like Ameri- Corps and other programs 
within the Corporation for National Service; the Points of Light 
Foundation; Learn and Serve America; the National Senior Service Corps; 
and thousands of other voluntary, civic, religious, and neighborhood 
groups.
    Later this month, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, we will 
convene an historic Presidents' Summit on Service. I will be joined 
there by every living former president, or his representative, and other 
prominent Americans as we take specific steps to serve our children and 
to rebuild our communities. Our mission is nothing less than to spark a 
renewed national sense of obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season 
of service.
    I hope that the many related activities in the days leading up to 
this important event will make all Americans think about our shared 
responsibility for one another. Citizen service can take many shapes--it 
can mean joining AmeriCorps as a high school student, volunteering 
nights or on weekends in a religious group or neighborhood association, 
or devoting years of one's life to service in the Peace Corps or in the 
Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
    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 the week 
of April 13 through April 19, 1997, as National Service and Volunteer 
Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week with appropriate 
programs, ceremonies, and activities to express appreciation for all 
those who serve and to encourage others to continue the American legacy 
of service.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of 
April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[[Page 516]]

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:17 a.m., April 14, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on April 12, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
April 15.