[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 20 (Monday, May 18, 1998)]
[Pages 837-838]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7094--National Defense Transportation Day and National 
Transportation Week, 1998

May 8, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    America's transportation system is the finest in the world. The web 
of streets, highways, bridges, and railroads that crisscross our Nation 
and our complex network of shipping lanes and air routes keep us 
connected to one another and the world. They enable us to move people 
and goods swiftly and efficiently across the country and around the 
globe and fuel the engine of our robust economy. Whether building 
subways, constructing new highways, or improving airplane safety, the 
dedicated and hardworking men and women of our national transportation 
system keep America moving.
    As we look forward to a new century, we must build on our record of 
achievement. As always, our first priority must be the safety of those 
who use our Nation's transportation system. We have already made great 
progress in improving highway safety--the traffic fatality rate today is 
two-and-a-half times less than it was 30 years ago. However, by 
increasing seat belt use, ensuring that our children are properly 
secured in our vehicles, and lowering the threshold for drunk driving to 
a blood alcohol concentration of .08, we can further reduce the number 
of traffic accidents and the harm they cause.
    We also must strive to keep our Nation's transportation system 
secure and our borders safe from terrorists and drug traffickers. Today, 
through improved training techniques and advanced technology, we have 
increased security at our airports, and programs such as the Coast 
Guard's Operation Frontier Shield have helped to seize tons of illegal 
drugs and abort numerous drug smuggling attempts.
    While recognizing the many benefits we derive from our 
transportation system, we also acknowledge the need to use and develop 
it responsibly to ensure the protection of our environment. We are 
making progress in this goal as well: we have funded many projects to 
improve transit services and accommodations for bicyclists and 
pedestrians; we are turning historic railroad terminals into multimodal 
transportation centers; and funds from transportation programs have 
helped to support wetlands restoration projects and have aided 
communities in planning both transit projects and sustainable 
development. We must build on these efforts by also working to reduce 
the pollutants and greenhouse gases that our transportation system 
creates.
    Recognizing the need for safety, security, and environmental 
stewardship in America's transportation system, we also must invest in 
our transportation infrastructure. Together with the Congress, my 
Administration has provided funding for construction projects in 
communities across the country, creating 700,000 new transportation-
related jobs in the last 5 years. Our fiscal 1999 budget proposal for 
transportation infrastructure is 42 percent higher than the average 
level of investment from 1990 to 1993. The 240 trade agreements we have 
signed since 1993, including 27 ``open skies'' aviation agreements in 
the last 3 years, have opened markets around the world for American 
products. America's transportation system will enable us to seize these 
unprecedented opportunities for trade and economic growth.
    In recognition of the importance of our Nation's transportation 
system to our national security and economic success, and in gratitude 
to the outstanding men and women who ensure its continued excellence, 
the United States Congress, by joint resolution approved May 16, 1957 
(36 U.S.C. 160), has designated the third Friday in May of each

[[Page 838]]

year as ``National Defense Transportation Day'' and, by joint resolution 
approved May 14, 1962 (36 U.S.C. 166), declared that the week in which 
that Friday falls be designated ``National Transportation Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, May 15, 1998, as National 
Defense Transportation Day and May 10 through May 16, 1998, as National 
Transportation Week. I urge all Americans to observe these occasions 
with appropriate ceremonies and activities, giving due recognition to 
the individuals and organizations that build, operate, and maintain this 
country's modern transportation systems.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth 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 13, 1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 14. 
This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate 
issue.