[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Pages 2363-2364]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7358--Leif Erikson Day, 2000

October 6, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This year, as we mark the beginning of a new millennium, we also 
celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Europe's first contact with North 
America. At the turn of the last millennium, the legendary explorer Leif 
Erikson--son of Iceland, grandson of Norway--sailed across the cold 
waters of the Atlantic from his home in Greenland to the eastern coast 
of North America, completing the first documented voyage of Europeans to 
the New World.
    In the ensuing centuries, millions of other men and women followed 
the lead of these brave Vikings--some seeking riches, some seeking 
adventure, all in search of a new and better life. Families from 
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway would make their new homes 
in communities like New Sweden, Delaware; Oslo, Minnesota; and Denmark, 
Iowa, bringing with them a reverence for freedom and a deep love of 
democracy that stemmed from their own egalitarian traditions. More than 
10 million Americans today can trace their roots to the Nordic 
countries, and their family ties, traditions, and values have 
strengthened the warm friendship our Nation has always enjoyed with the 
people of Scandinavia.
    In celebration of this friendship and our shared pride in Leif 
Erikson's exploits, Americans have joined with the Nordic countries to 
commemorate this special anniversary. The Smithsonian Institution 
sponsored a traveling exhibit earlier this year to highlight the Viking 
explorations of North America; the Library of Congress hosted an 
international symposium on the ancient texts of the Icelandic Sagas, 
many of which were displayed in the United States for the first time; 
and we joined Iceland in creating our first jointly issued coin to 
commemorate Leif Erikson's historic voyage.
    These cultural initiatives reflect the strong ties and long history 
between the United States and the Nordic countries, and we continue to 
cooperate on many mutual goals. The Nordic countries are our full 
partners in the Northern Europe Initiative (NEI), which we launched in 
1997 to build on the dramatic progress toward a free Europe that 
occurred following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Through the NEI, we 
are working together to promote democracy, stability, and prosperity in 
the Baltic nations and northwest Russia, to facilitate their fuller 
integration into Western institutions, and to cooperate on such cross-
border issues as energy, health, law enforcement, and the environment. 
In addition, many of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in America and 
the Nordic countries are collaborating to encourage trade and the spread 
of innovative ideas and technologies around the world. Americans and 
Nordics alike value courage, independence, energy, and resourcefulness; 
working together in this new millennium, we are charting a new course 
for our people just

[[Page 2364]]

as exciting and full of promise as the one Leif Erikson traveled a 
thousand years ago.
    In honor of Leif Erikson and of our Nordic American heritage, the 
Congress, by joint resolution (Public Law 88-566) approved on September 
2, 1964, has authorized and requested the President to proclaim October 
9 of each year as ``Leif Erikson Day.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 9, 2000, as Leif 
Erikson Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with 
appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs to honor our rich 
Nordic American heritage.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of 
October, 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., October 11, 
2000]

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