[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 18 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Pages 748-749]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7089--Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1998

April 30, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Like millions of others who left their homelands to come to America, 
the first Asian and Pacific Island immigrants who arrived here in the 
19th century were seeking a better life than the one they left behind. 
Many were poor; many had suffered oppression; but all were strengthened 
by a rich culture, an ancient heritage, a belief in freedom's promise, 
and a willingness to work for their share of the American Dream.
    For many, however, that dream was deferred. These courageous men and 
women from Asia and the Pacific Islands were met in America by prejudice 
as they strived to make a living and establish a home in their adopted 
country.
    These brave new Americans would prevail over every hardship. Whether 
working in the gold fields of California, laboring on the sugar and 
pineapple plantations of Hawaii, constructing the transcontinental 
railway, or creating their own businesses, Asian and Pacific Americans 
succeeded in building new lives for themselves and their families.
    Today, Asian and Pacific Americans are helping to build a vibrant 
America. They are leaders in medical and scientific research, in the 
halls of Congress, in the classrooms of our educational institutions, in 
business, labor, the arts, and every other human endeavor. They are 
building economic and technological bridges across the Pacific and

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beyond, which will ensure America's leadership well into the next 
millennium. These sons and daughters of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, 
India, Japan, Korea, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and so 
many other Asian and Pacific lands have enriched our national life and 
culture with their energy and talents, with their commitment to family 
and community, and with their enduring reverence for freedom.
    As we approach the 21st century, Asian and Pacific Americans are 
playing an increasingly important role in the life of our Nation, 
helping us to maintain our leadership in the global economy. More 
important, they are inspiring us to embrace the wider world, to 
recognize and appreciate the blessing of our great diversity, and to 
become one America.
    To honor the accomplishments of Asian and Pacific Americans and to 
recognize their many contributions to our Nation, the Congress, by 
Public Law 102-450, has designated the month of May as ``Asian/Pacific 
American Heritage Month.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1998 as Asian/Pacific American 
Heritage Month. I call upon the people of the United States to observe 
this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day 
of April, 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., May 5, 1998]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on May 
6.