[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 12 (Monday, March 29, 1999)]
[Pages 484-485]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7174--National Poison Prevention Week, 1999

March 19, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    During National Poison Prevention Week, Americans focus on the 
progress we have made in reducing the number of accidental poisoning 
that occur each year and reaffirm our commitment to preventing further 
tragedies.
    We can be heartened by the progress we have made. In 1962, when 
President Kennedy proclaimed the first National Poison Prevention Week, 
450 young people died due to poisoning. That number has fallen 
dramatically. There are many who share the credit for this growing 
success story: responsible parents and caregivers, who keep medicines, 
cosmetics, household cleaners, insecticides, and other poisonous 
substances out of the reach of children; the U.S. Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, which requires the use of child-resistant packaging 
on potentially dangerous materials; the Poison Prevention Week Council, 
which annually distributes poison prevention information to pharmacies, 
public health departments, and safety organizations; and our Nation's 
poison control centers, which provide lifesaving emergency first aid 
information. Working together, these dedicated individuals and 
organizations have saved hundreds of lives each year.
    But we cannot relax our efforts, because each life we lose to 
accidental poisoning is one too many. We must all do our part to protect 
our Nation's children by selecting and properly using child-resistant 
packaging, keeping poisonous substances accurately labeled and locked 
away from children, carefully reading and following all directions and 
caution labels on packages, and keeping the number of a poison control 
center close to the telephone. If a poisoning incident does occur, we 
need to respond quickly by contacting the poison control center, 
relaying the appropriate information--such as the age and weight of the 
poisoning victim and the type and amount of substance he or she has 
ingested--and heeding instructions. These simple safety measures can 
mean the difference between life and death.
    To encourage the American people to learn more about the dangers of 
accidental poisonings and to take responsible preventive measures, the 
Congress, by joint resolution approved September 26, 1961 (75 Stat. 
681), has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation 
designating the third week of March of each year as ``National Poison 
Prevention Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning March 21, 1999, 
as National Poison Prevention Week. I call upon all Americans to observe 
this week by participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities and 
by learning how to protect our children from poisons.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth 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

[[Page 485]]

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., March 23, 
1999]

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