[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 43 (Monday, November 1, 1999)]
[Pages 2141-2142]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7244--United Nations Day, 1999

October 22, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    As the 20th century draws to a close, Americans are taking time to 
reflect on the institutions that have shaped our past and that hold 
great hope for our future. One of the most important of these 
institutions is the United Nations. A dream of peace rising from the 
ashes of World War II, the U.N. has made great strides toward fulfilling 
the goals of its founders by saving lives, enhancing the security of 
law-abiding nations, and improving living conditions across the globe. 
This year, in marking the 54th anniversary of the founding of the U.N., 
we celebrate not only the organization's many accomplishments, but also 
its potential to bring the family of nations together to work toward a 
more peaceful, democratic, just, and prosperous world.
    Since the U.N.'s founding more than half a century ago, humankind 
has learned a great deal--how to produce enough food for growing 
populations, how human activity affects the environment, how 
telecommunications can link the countries of the world into a single 
global community. But one of the most important lessons humanity has 
learned is one that Americans have always known: open societies are more 
just and open markets create more wealth.
    Through the United Nations, America has access to a powerful forum 
where we can join with the other peoples of the world to raise awareness 
of these truths and to advance common interests and shared values. 
During the past decade, U.N. conferences have brought together nearly 
50,000 people in Beijing to advance the rights and well-being of women; 
47,000 in Rio de Janeiro to discuss ways to promote development while 
protecting the environment; and 30,000 people in Istanbul to seek 
solutions to urban problems.
    In the last year alone, we have seen abundant evidence of the ways 
in which the United Nations benefits America and the world. The United 
Nations is the primary multilateral forum to press for international 
human rights and lead governments to improve their relations with their 
neighbors and their own people. As we saw during the Kosovo conflict, 
and more recently with regard to East Timor, the perpetrators of ethnic 
cleansing and mass murder can find no refuge in the United Nations and 
no source of comfort in its charter. It is the institution the 
international community turns to in pursuit of solutions to armed 
conflict. It is the primary vehicle for broad international cooperation 
in addressing the needs of refugees and of the tens of millions of 
people around the world who remain mired in abject poverty. The United 
Nations and its affiliated agencies also provide a powerful voice for 
upholding and furthering the development of the rule of law and 
standards of international commerce--rules and standards that are 
crucial to global and economic stability and progress.
    In acknowledging the far-reaching contributions of the United 
Nations to the international community, we must renew our commitment to 
work with our fellow U.N. members to advance international peace and 
prosperity and to champion human rights. In achieving these goals, the 
United Nations should make wise use of the international resources at 
its disposal; and the United States should meet its obligation to 
provide our share of these resources. By doing so, we can ensure that 
the United Nations will be an integral player in making the next 
millennium an era of unprecedented global peace, security, and 
prosperity.
    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 October 
24, 1999, as United Nations Day. I encourage all Americans to acquaint 
themselves with the activities and accomplishments of the United Nations 
and to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and 
activities furthering the goal of international cooperation.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second 
day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred

[[Page 2142]]

and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America 
the two 
hundred and twenty-fourth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 27, 
1999]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
28. This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on October 24.