[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 47 (Monday, November 23, 1998)]
[Pages 2326-2327]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7148--Thanksgiving Day, 1998

November 17, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Thanksgiving Day is one of America's most beloved and widely 
celebrated holidays. Whether descendants of the original colonists or 
new citizens, Americans join with family and friends to give thanks to a 
provident God for the blessings of freedom, peace, and plenty.
    We are a Nation of people who have come from many countries, 
cultures, and creeds. The colonial Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621, 
when the Pilgrims of the Old World mingled in fellowship and celebration 
with the American Indians of the New World, foreshadowed the challenge 
and opportunity that such diversity has always offered us: to live 
together in peace with respect and appreciation for our differences and 
to draw on one another's strengths in the work of building a great and 
unified Nation.

[[Page 2327]]

    And so at Thanksgiving we must also remember to be thankful for the 
many contributions each generation of Americans has made to preserve our 
blessings. We are thankful for the brave patriots who have fought and 
died to defend our freedom and uphold our belief in human dignity. We 
are thankful for the men and women who have worked this land throughout 
the decades, from the stony farms of New England to the broad wheat 
fields of the Great Plains to the fertile vineyards of California, 
sharing our country's bounty with their fellow Americans and people 
around the world. We are thankful for the leaders and visionaries who 
have challenged us through the years to fulfill America's promise for 
all our people, to make real in our society our fundamental ideals of 
freedom, equality, and justice. We are thankful for the countless quiet 
heroes and heroines who work hard each day, raise their families with 
love and care, and still find time and energy to make their communities 
better places in which to live. Each of us has reason to be proud of our 
part in building America, and each of us has reason to be grateful to 
our fellow Americans for the success of these efforts.
    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 Thursday, 
November 26, 1998, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all 
the people of the United States to assemble in their homes, places of 
worship, or community centers to share the spirit of goodwill and 
prayer; to express heartfelt thanks to God for the many blessings He has 
bestowed upon us; and to reach out in true gratitude and friendship to 
our brothers and sisters across this land who, together, comprise our 
great American family.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day 
of November, 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, 11:45 a.m., November 18, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 19.