[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 46 (Monday, November 20, 2000)]
[Pages 2868-2869]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7376--International Education Week, 2000

 November 13, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Today we live in a global community, where all countries must work 
as partners to promote peace and prosperity and to resolve international 
problems. One of the surest ways to develop and strengthen such 
partnerships is through international education programs.
    These programs enable students to learn other languages, experience 
other cultures, develop a broader understanding of global issues, and 
make lasting friendships with their peers in other countries who will 
one day guide the political, cultural, and economic development of their 
nations. Some of America's staunchest friends abroad are those who have 
experienced our country firsthand as exchange students or who have been 
exposed to American values through contact with American students and 
scholars studying overseas.
    Since World War II, the Federal Government has worked in partnership 
with colleges, universities, and other educational organizations to 
sponsor programs that help our citizens gain the international 
experience and skills needed to meet the challenges of an increasingly 
interdependent world. At the same time, American educational 
institutions have developed study programs that attract students from 
all over the world to further their education in the United States.
    One of the largest and most renowned of these international 
education initiatives is the Fulbright Program, which was founded by 
Senator J. William Fulbright more than half a century ago. Since its 
inception, the program has provided nearly a quarter of a million 
participants from the United States and 140 other nations--participants 
chosen for

[[Page 2869]]

their academic and professional qualifications and leadership 
potential--with the opportunity to study and teach abroad and to gain 
knowledge of global political, economic, and cultural institutions. As 
Senator Fulbright envisioned, this program has proved to be a vital and 
positive force for peace and understanding around the world.
    To build on this tradition of excellence in international education, 
I signed a memorandum in April of this year directing the heads of 
Executive departments and agencies to work with educational 
institutions, State and local governments, private organizations, and 
the business community to develop a coordinated national policy on 
international education. We must reaffirm our national commitment to 
encouraging students from other countries to study in the United States, 
promote study abroad by U.S. students, and support the exchange of 
teachers, scholars, and citizens at all levels of society. By doing so, 
we can expand our citizens' intellectual and cultural horizons, 
strengthen America's economic competitiveness, increase under standing 
between nations and peoples, and, as Senator Fulbright so eloquently 
stated, direct ``the enormous power of human knowledge to the enrichment 
of our own lives and to the shaping of a rational and civilized world 
order.''
    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 November 
13 through November 17, 2000, as International Education Week. I urge 
all Americans to observe this week with events and programs that 
celebrate the benefits of international education to our citizens, our 
economy, and the world.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day 
of November, 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, 10:59 a.m., November 
14, 2000]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 15.