    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 47 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
    [Page 2424]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7255--Thanksgiving Day, 1999

    November 20, 1999

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        Well over three and a half centuries ago, strengthened by faith and
    bound by a common desire for liberty, a small band of Pilgrims sought
    out a place in the New World where they could worship according to their
    own beliefs. Surviving their first harsh winter in Massachusetts and
    grateful to a merciful God for a sustaining harvest, the men and women
    of Plymouth Colony set aside three days as a time to give thanks for the
    bounty of their fields, the fruits of their labor, the chance to live in
    peace with their Native American neighbors, and the blessing of a land
    where they could live and worship freely.
        We have come far on our American journey since that early
    Thanksgiving. In the intervening years, we have lived through times of
    war and peace, years of poverty and plenty, and seasons of social and
    political upheaval that have shaped and forever changed our national
    character and experience. As we gather around our Thanksgiving tables
    again this year, it is a fitting time to reflect on how the events of
    our rich history have affected those we care about and those who came
    before us. As we acknowledge the past, we do so knowing that the
    individual blessings for which we give thanks may have changed, but our
    gratitude to God and our commitment to our fellow Americans remain
    constant.
        Today we count among out national blessings a time of unprecedented
    prosperity, with an expanding economy, record low rates of poverty and
    unemployment among our people, and the limitless opportunities to
    improve the quality of life that new technologies present to us. We can
    give thanks today that for the first time in history, more than half the
    world's people live under governments of their own choosing. And we
    remain grateful for the peace and freedom America continues to enjoy
    thanks to the courage and patriotism of our men and women in uniform.
        But the spirit of Thanksgiving requires more than just an
    acknowledgment of our blessings; it calls upon us to reach out and share
    those blessings with others. We must strive to fulfill the promise of
    the extraordinary era in which we live and enter the new century with a
    commitment to widen the circle of opportunity, break down the prejudices
    that alienate us from one another, and build an America of understanding
    and inclusion, strong in our diversity, responsible in our freedom, and
    generous in sharing our bounty with those in need.
        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 25, 1999, 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 fellowship and
    prayer and to reinforce the ties of family and community; 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 in the larger family of humankind.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day
    of November, 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-fourth.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:43 a.m., November 22,
    1999]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on
    November 23.