[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 19 (Monday, May 11, 1998)]
[Pages 782-784]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7092--Older Americans Month, 1998

May 4, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    In just over a decade from now, the first of America's 77 million 
baby boomers will celebrate their 65th birthdays. Fortunately,

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visionary programs like Social Security, Medicare, and the Older 
Americans Act will help to make life easier for them as they reach this 
milestone.
    For more than 60 years, Social Security has provided our older 
citizens with a measure of economic security. For more than 30 years, 
Medicare has given them access to quality health care and the latest in 
medical advances. And older Americans in need of greater assistance have 
been able to look to programs under the Older Americans Act for the 
critical home and community-based care services that have enabled 
millions of elderly men and women to live independently. Together, these 
farsighted measures have played a major role in dramatically reducing 
the poverty rate and extending the longevity of older Americans, 
allowing our citizens to grow old with dignity and peace of mind.
    This year's Older Americans Month celebration centers around the 
theme ``Living Longer; Growing Stronger in America.'' As we enter a new 
century and address the challenges of an aging America, we must commit 
ourselves to the health and welfare of our older Americans and to 
protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security. One of the 
most important achievements of the Balanced Budget Act that I signed 
last summer was its unprecedented reform of the Medicare program. This 
bipartisan effort extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund for a 
decade, includes new health plan choices, and adds coverage of 
preventive benefits. The legislation also established the National 
Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare to, among other things, 
review and analyze the financial

condition of Medicare so that it remains as strong for our children as it 
has been for our parents.

    We must respond with equal resolve to the increasing strains on the 
Social Security system. Now that we have succeeded in dramatically 
reducing the Federal budget deficit, I have called on the Congress to 
reserve all of the anticipated budget surplus until we have a 
comprehensive plan to strengthen Social Security for the 21st century. 
We are holding a series of regional conferences throughout the year to 
engage in a national discussion on the future of Social Security, both 
to raise awareness of the problem and to allow all Americans to 
contribute their ideas for a solution. At the end of the year, I will 
host a bipartisan White House Conference on Social Security to summarize 
the lessons we learn from this dialogue and to map out an effective 
strategy that will enable us to ensure that Social Security will be 
there for future generations of Americans.
    During Older Americans Month--and throughout the year--I encourage 
all Americans to pay tribute to our older citizens and to follow their 
example by planning for the future. As individuals, we should take care 
of our health through proper diet, exercise, and appropriate preventive 
care, and we should plan for our future financial security by 
participating in retirement and savings programs. As families and 
communities, we can help older Americans to remain active and 
independent members of our communities. And as a Nation, we must 
recognize our obligation to those who will come after us by preserving 
and strengthening Medicare and Social Security for the 21st century and 
beyond.
    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 May 1998 
as Older Americans Month. I call upon Government officials, businesses, 
communities, educators, volunteers, and all the people of the United 
States to acknowledge the contributions older Americans have made, and 
continue to make, to the life of our Nation.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of 
May, 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 was published in the Federal Register on May 6.

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