[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Pages 2988-2989]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7385--National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2000

 December 6, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    While the bitter winds of war raged across much of the world on the 
morning of December 7, 1941, the United States was still at peace. At 
Pearl Harbor, the 130 vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay tranquil in 
the Sunday silence. Then, at 7:55 a.m., that silence was shattered by 
the sound of falling bombs and the rattle of machine-gun fire, as the 
war came home to America.
    In making such a devastating preemptive strike, the forces of 
Imperial Japan sought to weaken our national spirit and cripple our 
military might. But our attackers would soon learn that they had 
seriously misjudged the character of the American people and the 
strength of our democracy. Though 21 ships were sunk or badly damaged, 
347 aircraft destroyed or in need of significant repair, and some 3,500 
Americans dead or injured, the attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized our 
Nation into action, reaffirmed our commitment to freedom, and 
strengthened our resolve to prevail.
    Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, millions of Americans 
volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces. Millions of others filled

[[Page 2989]]

factories and shipyards as the great industrial engine of our free 
enterprise system was harnessed to produce the planes, tanks, ships, and 
guns that armed the forces of freedom. Many of the ships sunk during the 
attack on Pearl Harbor were raised and repaired to sail once again with 
the U.S. Pacific Fleet--the same fleet that in September of 1945 would 
witness the surrender of Imperial Japan.
    On Veterans Day this year, America celebrated the groundbreaking for 
a memorial in our Nation's capital dedicated to our World War II 
veterans. This memorial will stand as a testament to the countless brave 
Americans who responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the threat to 
our freedom by answering the call to service; both at home and overseas. 
It will also stand as testament to the spirit of a Nation that believes 
profoundly in the ideals upon which it was founded, and it will serve as 
an enduring reminder of what Americans can accomplish when we work 
together to achieve our common goals.
    The outpouring of support for this memorial, from young and old 
alike, shows that the American people's deep conviction in our Nation's 
values has not diminished in the intervening years. We will never forget 
the men and women who took up arms in the greatest struggle humanity has 
ever known; nor will we forget the lessons they taught us: that we must 
remain ever vigilant, determined, and ready to advance the cause of 
freedom whenever and wherever it is threatened.
    The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, has designated December 7, 
2000, as ``National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.''
     Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 2000, as National 
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I urge all Americans to observe this day 
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities in honor of the 
Americans who served at Pearl Harbor. I also ask all Federal departments 
and agencies, organizations, and individuals to fly the flag of the 
United States at half- staff on this day in honor of those Americans who 
died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of 
December, 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., December 11, 
2000]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
December 12.