[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 10 (Monday, March 9, 1998)]
[Page 384]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7072--National Older Workers Employment Week, 1998

March 5, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Americans are living longer, healthier lives. As a Nation, we are 
witnessing a dramatic growth in the population of Americans aged 55 and 
older, a trend that will continue well into the next century. To 
maintain our dynamic economy and to fill the jobs of the 21st century, 
we must make the most of the creative potential and productive capacity 
of this growing segment of our society.
    Unfortunately, many Americans aged 55 and older encounter serious 
difficulty finding employment when they lose their jobs or seek to 
change careers. Employers too often focus on the age of older workers 
instead of their qualifications and strong work ethic. By failing to 
recognize the wealth of skills and experience older workers can bring to 
their jobs, such employers deny them an equal opportunity to make their 
own valuable contributions to the American workplace.
    To counter these challenges, laws and government programs offer 
older workers the protections and services they need to ensure fair 
employment opportunities and practices. The Age Discrimination Act, the 
Older Americans Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act 
protect the basic rights of millions of older working Americans. The 
Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services also 
assist older workers through such efforts as the Senior Community 
Service Employment Program and the programs of the Administration on 
Aging.
    Older Americans actively contribute to our communities through their 
hard work, wisdom, and experience. They have rightly earned our 
admiration and respect; they have also earned a fair chance at a good 
job. As we observe National Older Workers Employment Week, I urge all 
employers, when they hire new workers, to consider carefully the skills 
and other qualifications of men and women aged 55 and older and to fully 
utilize this rich national resource.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 8 through March 14, 
1998, as National Older Workers Employment Week. I encourage all 
Americans to recognize the contributions that older workers make to the 
workplace and to our economy, and I urge public officials responsible 
for job placement, training, and related services to intensify their 
efforts throughout the year to help older Americans find suitable jobs 
and training.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-second.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., March 10, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on March 6, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
March 11.