[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 16 (Monday, April 21, 1997)]
[Pages 536-537]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6990--Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., 1997

April 17, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    A commitment to learning has been at the heart of America's progress 
for more than 200 years. Now, as we stand on the threshold of the 21st 
century, our continued success as a Nation depends on the quality of 
education that we provide to all our citizens.
    American children must have all the tools they need to make the most 
of their God-

[[Page 537]]

given potential. We must help them harness the powerful forces of 
technology, so that every student, including those in the most isolated 
rural towns and those in the poorest inner-city schools, has access to 
the vast universe of knowledge available on the Internet.
    However, education involves more than books, facts, and homework 
assignments. Education also concerns the building of character. 
Character is an anchor of our society, and we should work hard to 
cultivate it among our young people. If our Nation is to continue to 
thrive and prosper, we must continue to live up to our ideals.
    Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, grasped 
these fundamental truths. Espousing the values of education, morality, 
and civic duty throughout his distinguished life, he understood that 
learning and the sharing of experiences are crucial to developing the 
skills that will mold the character of each new generation. By striving 
to provide the best education possible, we can better prepare our Nation 
for the challenges that confront us as we move forward into the next 
century. The Rebbe rightly saw education as a continuous process of 
effort and experience, in which each person is nurtured from the cradle 
throughout life, bringing out the best in all of us.
    I urge all Americans, on this day and throughout the year, to 
remember the teachings of the Rebbe, and to work in partnership with 
educators, administrators, community leaders, and parents to help our 
young people thrive and prosper.
    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 April 18, 
1997, as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A. I call upon all Americans to 
observe this day with appropriate activities and programs.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth 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

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:49 a.m., April 18, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
21.