[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 37 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Pages 2088-2089]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7338--National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2000

September 14, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    American society today embraces a remarkable breadth of cultures, 
and Hispanics are an integral part of this diversity. The Hispanic 
American community is a collage of distinct groups, including people 
with roots in Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and 
Spain. Hispanics have been an important part of the history and heritage 
of the Americas since the earliest days of European colonization, and 
today Hispanic Americans are the youngest and fastest-growing minority 
community in our Nation. Devoted to family, faith, country, and hard 
work, they bring unique perspectives and experiences to our national 
community and character.

[[Page 2089]]

    The vibrant Hispanic influence can be seen in all aspects of 
American life and culture, from distinctive cuisine to colorful 
festivals, and from the rhythms and melodies of traditional music to the 
contagious beat of today's most popular songs. Throughout our Nation, 
Hispanic men and women have distinguished themselves in every endeavor 
and, with our cultural and linguistic ties to our trading partners 
throughout the Western Hemisphere, Hispanic Americans are crucial to 
maintaining our Nation's competitiveness and prosperity in the global 
economy of the 21st century.
    Not long ago I had the privilege of awarding the Presidential Medal 
of Freedom, our Nation's highest civilian honor, to Cruz Reynoso, a man 
who has devoted his life to promoting civil rights and championing equal 
opportunity for all our people. A son of Mexican immigrants, he has 
lived the American Dream, going to college and working his way up to 
become the first Hispanic American to serve on the California Supreme 
Court. A force for positive social change in our Nation, he is just one 
of many talented Hispanic Americans enriching our national life.
    Cruz Reynoso's success underscores what we already know: education 
and equal opportunity are the keys to ensuring that people of Hispanic 
heritage can take full advantage of America's promise. My Administration 
has focused on improving educational opportunities for Hispanic children 
through the Hispanic Education Action Plan, as well as by reducing class 
sizes across our Nation, greatly expanding the Head Start program, 
working to turn around failing schools, and making college more 
affordable through tax incentives and scholarships. By expanding the 
Earned Income Tax Credit, raising the minimum wage, and moving people 
from welfare to work, my Administration has also helped expand economic 
opportunity for Hispanic American working families. We have brought the 
Hispanic unemployment rate to its lowest level on record and the 
Hispanic poverty rate to a 20-year low. We have also worked hard to 
create an Administration that truly reflects America, with the most 
Hispanic appointees and the most Hispanic judicial nominees in our 
Nation's history.
    Even as Hispanic Americans grow in number and influence in our 
country, they have not forgotten their roots; they have not forgotten 
the pain of discrimination, of being ignored or left behind. Instead, 
millions of courageous and compassionate Hispanic men and women across 
our country are working to create a just and equal society, uniting 
around a firm commitment to build One America in this new century.
    In honor of the many contributions that Hispanic Americans have made 
and continue to make to our Nation and culture, the Congress, by Public 
Law 100-402, has authorized and requested the President to issue 
annually a proclamation designating September 15 through October 15 as 
``National Hispanic Heritage Month.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim September 15 through October 15, 
2000, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to 
observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 
of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fifth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 18, 
2000]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
September 19.