[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 20 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Pages 1112-1113]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7308--National Defense Transportation Day and National 
Transportation Week, 2000

May 15, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Throughout the past century, America's national transportation 
system has played a crucial role in strengthening our economy, 
protecting our safety, and improving the quality of life for all 
Americans. Interconnecting networks of railroads, ports, and waterways 
have transported millions of passengers and billions of dollars' worth 
of freight. Our national highway system connected cities to rural 
communities and people to jobs. The Wright Brothers' invention of the 
airplane gave birth to a world-class aviation system that revolutionized 
travel, created new industries, and brought the nations of the world 
closer. The quality and versatility of all these modes of transportation 
gave our Nation a powerful defense tool as well, enabling us to move 
troops and materiel swiftly and efficiently in times of conflict and 
crisis. Now, as we begin a new century, our national transportation 
system must embrace exciting new possibilities and new challenges.
    One of the most important of those challenges is safety. Advances in 
technology offer us great hope for progress in reducing accidents and 
fatalities. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration is working 
in partnership with the airline industry, pilots, technicians, and air 
traffic controllers to use improved forecasting and new communications 
technology to detect severe weather sooner, to let pilots and passengers 
know promptly about anticipated delays, and to centralize air traffic 
decisionmaking during severe storms in order to reduce delays. 
Automobile manufacturers are also using new technologies and design 
innovations--from stronger metals to new safety lights to advanced brake 
technology--to prevent accidents and save lives.

[[Page 1113]]

    Another of our great transportation challenges is to develop 
alternative fuels and clean energy sources that will not harm our 
environment. Earlier this year, I signed an Executive Order to ensure 
the Federal Government's leadership in reducing petroleum consumption 
and promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). By developing 
and using AFVs, we can reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants, 
enhance our Nation's energy self-sufficiency by reducing the demand for 
imported oil, and create new products and jobs.
    If we make wise and informed choices today and in the years to come, 
we can make our communities more livable, give our citizens greater 
choice and mobility, protect our environment, and help create a truly 
global community. The 20th century was indeed a golden age for 
transportation; the 21st century can be an even brighter one.
    In recognition of the importance of our Nation's transportation 
system to our national security and economic health, and in honor of the 
many dedicated men and women who have ensured its continued excellence 
through the years, the United States Congress, by joint resolution 
approved May 16, 1957 (36 U.S.C. 120), has designated the third Friday 
in May of each year as ``National Defense Transportation Day'' and, by 
joint resolution approved May 14, 1962 (36 U.S.C. 133), declared that 
the week during which that Friday falls be designated ``National 
Transportation Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, May 19, 2000, as National 
Defense Transportation Day and May 14 through May 20, 2000, as National 
Transportation Week. I urge all Americans to observe these occasions 
with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth 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 18, 2000]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 19.