    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2000)]
    [Pages 787-788]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
     Proclamation 7290--National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 2000

     April 10, 2000

     By the President of the United States

     of America

     A Proclamation

         This week marks the 20th anniversary of National Crime Victims'
    Rights Week. Over the past two decades, we have made enormous progress
    in our efforts to build safer communities and to reshape our criminal
    justice system so that it better protects victims' rights and responds
    more compassionately to their needs.
         In the 7 years since I first proclaimed National Crime Victims'
    Rights Week, my Administration has worked hard to achieve some of the
    most progressive criminal justice reforms in our Nation's history.
    Recognizing the urgent plea from millions of Americans to restore safety
    and security to their neighborhoods, in 1994 I signed into law the
    Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which funds 100,000
    additional police officers to fight crime and protect our citizens. In
    Federal court cases, this law also gives victims of violent crime and
    sexual abuse the right to speak out in court before sentencing,
    providing them the opportunity to describe the impact such victimization
    has had on their lives. To help protect our communities from gun
    violence, we enacted the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act,
    requiring background checks for potential handgun purchasers. Since its
    passage, more than 500,000 attempted gun purchases by felons, fugitives,
    and other prohibited persons have been prevented, saving an untold
    number of lives. And we worked to pass the assault weapons ban to keep
    these deadly firearms off our streets.
        We also fought to pass the Violence Against Women Act, which
    addresses the complex dynamics of gender-motivated violence and seeks to
    ensure justice for women who live in daily fear for their safety and
    often for their lives. By providing support services for victims of
    domestic violence and sexual assault and empowering prosecutors with new
    tools to target offenders, we have sent a clear message that our society
    will not tolerate violence against women.
         Thanks to the concerted efforts of crime victims' advocates, many
    of whom are survivors themselves, government at all levels is focused on
    ensuring victims' rights. Today, all States have enacted laws
    safeguarding crime victims' rights in the criminal justice process, and
    32 States have amended their constitutions accordingly.
         Despite this progress, millions of Americans still fall prey to
    criminals each year. In the past year alone, gun violence alone has
    taken an enormous toll across our Nation. To address this, my
    Administration has proposed the 21st Century Policing Initiative to
    provide 50,000 more police officers for our streets, requested more
    funding for our Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative to reduce
    school and youth violence, and put forth the largest national gun
    enforcement initiative in our Nation's history. I continue to call on
    the Congress to strengthen our Nation's hate crime laws and to pass
    commonsense gun legislation to keep guns out of the wrong hands; and we
    should pass the Victims' Rights Amendment to the Constitution.
         Criminal victimization is at its lowest level in 25 years, but we
    can do more. As we observe National Crime Victims' Rights Week, as we
    near the fifth anniversary of the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City and
    the first anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School, let us
    vow to continue working together to prevent crime and violence. Let us
    also pledge to honor the needs and rights of victims whose lives have
    been forever altered by crime. And let us recognize the courage and
    determination of the thousands of men and women across our country who
    dedicate themselves daily to the protection of victims' rights.
         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 9
    to April 15, 2000, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. I urge all
    Americans to remember crime victims and their families by working to
    reduce violence, to assist those harmed by crime, and to make our
    communities and

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    homes safer places in which to live and raise our families.
         In Witness Whereof,  I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of
    April, 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., April 12,
    2000]

     Note:  This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April
    13.