[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 9 (Monday, March 6, 2000)]
[Pages 416-417]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7278--American Red Cross Month, 2000

February 29, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    After the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, President Theodore 
Roosevelt asked his fellow Americans to respond by contributing to the 
American Red Cross, ``the only organization chartered and authorized by

[[Page 417]]

Congress to act at times of great national calamity.'' Almost a century 
later, the American Red Cross continues to serve our Nation and the 
world, providing compassionate assistance to people suffering in the 
aftermath of personal, local, national, or international disasters.
    As one of our country's premier humanitarian organizations, the Red 
Cross provides disaster relief to millions of people both at home and 
abroad. In the past year alone, the American Red Cross rose to meet many 
challenges--from Hurricane Floyd on the eastern seaboard to the Kosovo 
relief effort to the terrible earthquakes and floods that struck 
countries around the globe. Following the tragic shootings at Columbine 
High School and in other schools and places of work and worship, the 
American Red Cross sent in crisis counselors to support grieving 
families and friends of the victims. In Taiwan and in Turkey, the 
American Red Cross worked with other Red Cross affiliates to provide 
solace and support to earthquake survivors; after the crash of EgyptAir 
Flight 990, Red Cross grief counselors brought comfort to victims' 
families. In total, the American Red Cross responded to nearly 64,000 
disaster incidents last year alone and helped provide information to 
thousands of families separated from loved ones by war or disaster.
    The services that the American Red Cross provides go beyond disaster 
relief. Its biomedical services program provides patients in more than 
3,000 hospitals nationwide with the latest in high-quality, state-of-
the-art blood and tissue services. Last year it provided more than 
700,000 emergency and personal services for military personnel and their 
families, including relaying messages from their families to the three 
American servicemen held captive by Yugoslav forces. And in communities 
across the Nation, more than 12 million people received Red Cross 
instruction in lifesaving techniques last year, ranging from first aid 
and CPR to water safety and boat handling.
    Forming the backbone of the American Red Cross is a vast network of 
nearly 4.5 million blood donors and 1.3 million dedicated volunteers who 
ensure that help will be there when and where it is needed. Virtually 
every community in the United States is served by an American Red Cross 
chapter, Blood Services region, or both; and as we have seen 
demonstrated so dramatically over time, no community is immune to the 
sudden and devastating disasters that require the services and 
stewardship of the American Red Cross. Each of us owes a lasting debt of 
gratitude to this extraordinary organization that has given so much to 
our people, our country, and our world.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, by 
virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, do hereby proclaim March 2000 as American Red Cross 
Month. I urge all the people of the United States to demonstrate support 
for their local Red Cross chapters and to become actively involved in 
furthering the humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth 
day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand, 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., March 2, 
2000]

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