[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 21 (Monday, May 25, 1998)]
[Pages 939-940]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 7098--National Maritime Day, 1998

May 21, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The United States is and has always been a maritime Nation. Our 
history is tied to the sea--from the Santa Maria to the Mayflower, from 
clipper ships to ocean liners, from the Liberty Ships of World War II to 
the huge, efficient containerships of the 1990s--and our development as 
a Nation has paralleled the growth of our waterborne commerce.
    As we look forward to the challenges of the 21st century, we 
continue to rely on our Nation's maritime industry and the U.S. Merchant 
Marine to keep America competitive in an increasingly global economy. 
Ships and barges carry more than one billion tons of commercial cargo 
annually between ports within our Nation. Internationally, more than 95 
percent of our imports and exports by weight are transported on water--a 
total of more than one billion metric tons of cargo each year.
    We also depend on America's maritime industry and Merchant Marine to 
fill a crucial role in protecting our national interests and the 
security of our allies. Throughout our history, in times of conflict or 
crisis, the owners, operators, and crews of U.S.-flag commercial vessels 
have provided vital sealift capability in support of our Armed Forces, 
advancing defense, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions across the 
globe.
    Our maritime industry has made many important contributions to the 
economic strength and defense capability of our Nation, and my 
Administration has worked with the Congress to implement new approaches 
to ensure the industry's continued viability. Our National Shipbuilding 
Initiatives are helping to improve the competitiveness of America's 
maritime industry by seeking to eliminate foreign subsidies, assisting 
the industry's international marketing efforts, eliminating unnecessary 
government regulations, and enhancing private sector financing of 
shipbuilding through Federal loan guarantees. Under the Maritime 
Security Program, the Federal Government contracts with owners and 
operators of U.S.-flag vessels to supplement our military sealift 
capability and gains access to a fleet of modern commercial ships and 
the sophisticated intermodal transportation system that supports it. 
Together, these programs protect our Nation's economic interests and our 
national security by ensuring that U.S.-flag vessels will always sail in 
the sea lanes of the world.
    In recognition of the importance of the U.S. Merchant Marine, the 
Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 20, 1933, has designated 
May 22 as ``National Maritime Day'' and has authorized and requested the 
President to issue annually a proclamation calling for its appropriate 
observance.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim May 22, 1998, as National Maritime 
Day. I urge all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, 
ceremonies, and activities and by displaying the flag of the United 
States at their homes and in their communities. I also request that all 
ships sailing under the American flag dress ship on that day.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first 
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, 10:37 a.m., May 22, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on May 
26.

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