[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 41 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[Pages 1979-1980]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7132--Child Health Day, 1998

October 5, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    As caring parents and citizens, we must do all we can to ensure that 
our children, our Nation's greatest resource, lead safe and healthy 
lives. Today, thanks to scientific breakthroughs and increased public 
awareness, we have the ability to prevent many of the childhood 
illnesses and disorders of the past. We have raised immunization rates 
to an all-time high, ensured that prescription drugs will be adequately 
tested for children, conducted research to help protect children from 
environmental health risks, and established protections so that mothers 
can stay in hospitals with their newborns until they and their doctors 
decide they are ready to leave. Although we can be heartened by these 
important achievements, we must do more if we are to overcome the many 
health challenges our children still face.
    Recent studies show that children without health insurance are more 
likely to be sick as newborns, less likely to be immunized, and less 
likely to receive treatment for recurring illnesses. One of the great 
accomplishments of my Administration has been the creation of the 
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which I called for in my 
1997 State of the Union and signed into law just a year ago. CHIP 
provides $24 billion to help States offer affordable health insurance to 
children in eligible working families--the single largest investment in 
children's health since the passage of Medicaid in 1965. CHIP will 
provide health care coverage, including prescription drugs, and vision, 
hearing, and mental health services, to as many as 5 million uninsured 
children; and in its first year, nearly four out of five States already 
are participating in CHIP. We are also working hard to identify and 
enroll in Medicaid the more than 4 million children who are currently 
eligible to receive health care through that program but are not 
enrolled. The challenge before us now is to realize the promise of CHIP 
and Medicaid by reaching out to families to inform them of their options 
for health care coverage.
    Due to recent breakthroughs in medical knowledge, we know that the 
decisions we make even before our children are born can have a 
significant impact on their future health. That is why we are committed 
to fighting, among other afflictions, the tragic consequences of Fetal 
Alcohol Syndrome. In this country, thousands of infants are born each 
year suffering from the physical and mental effects of this disorder. 
Because its effects are devastating, causing permanent damage, the 
simplest and best measure that expectant mothers can take for the safety 
of their babies is to abstain from drinking alcohol throughout their 
pregnancies.
    As part of my Administration's ongoing efforts to protect our 
children from the effects of alcohol and other substance abuse, 
Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna

[[Page 1980]]

Shalala recently announced a new campaign, ``Your Time--Their Future,'' 
to recruit adults to help children and adolescents develop healthy and 
useful skills and interests. Research shows that the guidance and 
example of caring adults can play an important part in helping young 
people resist the attraction of alcohol and other harmful or illegal 
substances.
    To acknowledge the importance of our children's health, the 
Congress, by joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (36 
U.S.C. 143), has called for the designation of the first Monday in 
October as ``Child Health Day'' and has requested the President to issue 
a proclamation in observance of this day.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 5, 1998, as Child 
Health Day. I call upon families, schools, communities, and governments 
to dedicate themselves to protecting the health and well-being of all 
our children.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
October, 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-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 7, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
8.