[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 15 (Monday, April 19, 1999)]
[Page 643]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7183--Jewish Heritage Week, 1999

April 14, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Nearly 350 years have passed since the first Jewish settlers arrived 
in America. The sons and daughters of a proud and ancient heritage, they 
brought to this new land gifts that have enriched our national life 
tremendously: a deep faith in God, a strong sense of morality, a 
devotion to family and community, a thirst for freedom, a reverence for 
justice, and a long tradition of philanthropy.
    Millions of Jews have shared the American immigrant experience. Many 
came here fleeing poverty and persecution, yearning for religious or 
political freedom, seeking a better life for themselves and their 
families. Investing their dreams, ambitions, labor, and love in our 
country, Jewish immigrants overcame great obstacles to rise as far as 
their talents and effort could take them. Today their descendants 
continue to make extraordinary contributions to the cultural, economic, 
religious, and intellectual life of our Nation. In education, the arts, 
politics, the law, science, entertainment, technology, philanthropy, 
industry, and every other field of endeavor, Jewish men and women have 
excelled in their pursuits and strengthened America with their character 
and accomplishments.
    As we look forward to a new century and a new millennium, let us 
give thanks for all that the Jewish community in America has done to 
keep our Nation free, strong, and prosperous. Let us celebrate the 
freedom of religion guaranteed by our founders in the Bill of Rights, 
which has done so much to attract men and women of conscience to this 
land. Let us recognize that our country's great diversity of races, 
religions, ethnicities, and cultures will prove to be among our greatest 
strengths in the global community of tomorrow. And let us reaffirm our 
sacred obligation to build a future based upon a spirit of tolerance, 
respect, and understanding.
    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 April 18 
through April 25, 1999, as Jewish Heritage Week. I urge all Americans to 
observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 
of April, 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, 8:45 a.m., April 16, 
1999]

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