[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 9 (Monday, March 8, 1999)]
[Pages 334-335]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7169--Irish-American Heritage Month, 1999

March 1, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    During the month of March each year, as millions of Americans 
celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we remember with special pride our Irish 
heritage. We remember our ancestors who stood on Ireland's western 
shores, yearning for the promise of America. Fleeing famine and 
injustice, they longed for a new world of opportunities. Millions of 
these courageous men and women set sail from Ireland, leaving behind all 
that they had ever known to seek the promise of America. They gave to 
their new homeland their strength and spirit, sinew and determination, 
eloquence and wit. In return, America offered them the opportunity for a 
better life, the chance to rise above poverty and discrimination, and a 
future where they could live out their dreams.
    The Irish who came to America endured many hardships, but they 
prospered and helped to build our country with innumerable physical and 
intellectual contributions. They gave us Presidents like Woodrow Wilson, 
John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan; patriots like John Barry and Stephen 
Moylan, who fought fiercely for American independence in the 
Revolutionary War; jurists like Justice William Brennan, who championed 
justice and equality; suffragists and social reformers like Maria 
McCreery; journalists, peacekeepers, artists, playwrights, labor 
leaders, and educators. These and so many other Irish Americans seized 
the opportunity of freedom America promised. From their grand literary 
tradition to their deep religious faith, Irish Americans and their 
descendants have enriched every facet of American history.
    But Irish-American Heritage Month is a time to look to the future as 
well as to the past. Today we rejoice at the promise of peace in 
Northern Ireland and the resolve of her people to approach their 
differences not with weapons, but with words. While the path to peace is 
rarely easy, it is by necessity a community effort. Americans are a 
vital part of the process in Northern Ireland by virtue of our shared 
heritage and shared goal of lasting peace and a better future for all 
God's children. By lending our hearts, minds, and prayers to the work of 
peace, we can best fulfill our obligation to the generations of Irish 
men and women who have given so much to our Nation's life and history.

[[Page 335]]

    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 March 
1999 as Irish-American Heritage Month. I call upon all the people of the 
United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, 
programs, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of 
March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, 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, 11:21 a.m., March 2, 
1999]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
3.