[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 24 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Page 1060]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7104--National Homeownership Week, 1998

June 5, 1998

    Homeownership has always been the foundation of the American Dream. 
Generations of Americans have worked hard and set aside their savings so 
that they might enjoy the security and stability of owning their own 
home. The partnership forged between the Federal Government and the 
private sector during this century has succeeded in bringing that dream 
closer to reality for all our citizens.
    The National Housing Act, which President Franklin Roosevelt signed 
into law more than 60 years ago, made homeownership available to 
millions of families who previously could not have afforded to buy their 
own homes. The G.I. Bill of Rights extended the opportunity of 
homeownership to a whole new generation of Americans, enabling millions 
of our service men and women to start a new life in their own homes.
    Building on this legacy, in 1995 I convened the National Partners in 
Homeownership--a coalition of 139 community-based local partnerships and 
65 national groups representing the housing industry, lenders, nonprofit 
organizations, and all sectors of government--to dramatically increase 
homeownership opportunity in America. And my Administration's economic 
strategy to reduce the deficit, invest in our people, and open foreign 
markets has led to lower mortgage rates, more jobs, and higher family 
incomes. Thanks to the success of our strategy and the efforts of the 
National Partners in Homeownership, we now have the highest 
homeownership rate in America's history.
    Our Nation's commitment to homeownership has brought us 
extraordinary rewards, invigorating the construction and related 
industries, creating new jobs, and enhancing our prosperity. The next 
generation of American homes will also improve our environment. The new 
partnership I recently launched with America's building industry--the 
Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing--will dramatically 
improve the energy efficiency of new homes, reducing the greenhouse 
gases that cause global warming and cutting homeowners' energy bills. 
Most important, homeownership has encouraged millions of Americans to 
save and invest, to take pride in their neighborhoods, and to take an 
active, responsible role in the life of their communities.
    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 June 7 
through June 13, 1998, as National Homeownership Week. I urge all 
Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, 
and activities that celebrate the rewards of homeownership.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
June, 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., June 9, 1997]

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