[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 19 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[Pages 1021-1022]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Proclamation 7304--Global Science and Technology Week, 2000

 May 5, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    At its core, science is an international endeavor. The fundamental 
workings of nature--the function of a gene, the quantum behavior of 
matter and energy, the chemistry of the atmosphere--are not the sole 
province of any one nation. At the same time, many of the greatest 
challenges our Nation faces are of global concern. Issues such as 
poverty, disease, pollution, and sustainable energy production transcend 
national boundaries, and their solutions require international 
collaboration. With the advent of the Internet and the revolution in 
communications technology, such cooperation is more achievable--and more 
productive--than ever before.
    In recent years, America has participated in numerous scientific 
endeavors that illustrate the feasibility and the benefits of 
international cooperation. For example, as one of 16 participating 
nations, we are advancing the frontiers of space exploration through a 
partnership to build the International Space Station. Working together 
in the unique environment of space, we will strive to solve crucial 
problems in medicine and ecology and lay the foundations for developing 
space-based commerce.
    We are also participating in an international scientific effort to 
map and sequence all human chromosomes. With the completion of the Human 
Genome Project, we will have unprecedented knowledge about the cause of 
such genetic diseases as muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer's and greater 
hope of preventing them in the future.
    Since the 1980s, under the auspices of the United Nations 
Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization, American 
scientists have been working with hundreds of scientists around the 
world to identify, understand, and raise public awareness about the 
threat to our planet's ozone layer. Our collaborative efforts have led 
to an international agreement to eliminate nearly all production of 
offending chemicals in industrialized countries and to work to reduce 
their production in developing countries.
    Our Nation continues to reap rewards from these and other important 
international scientific efforts. We benefit enormously from the large 
and growing international scientific community within our borders. For 
generations, the world's brightest scientists have come to our country 
to study and conduct research, and many choose to remain here 
permanently. From Albert Einstein to four of this year's Nobel 
laureates, foreign-born scientists in America have made

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extraordinary contributions to science and technology and have played a 
vital role in the unprecedented prosperity and economic growth we have 
experienced in recent years.
    The great French scientist Louis Pasteur noted more than a century 
ago that ``science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to 
humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.'' During Global 
Science and Technology Week, America joins the world community in 
celebrating the immeasurable benefits we have enjoyed from international 
scientific collaboration and looks forward to a future of even greater 
achievements.
     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 May 7 to 
May 13, 2000, as Global Science and Technology Week. I call upon 
students, educators, and all the people of the United States to learn 
more about the international nature of science and technology and the 
contributions that international scientists have made to our Nation's 
progress and prosperity.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
May, 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., May 10, 
2000]

 Note:  This proclamation was published in the  Federal Register  on May 
11. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.