[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 9 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Pages 346-347]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7408--American Red Cross Month, 2001

 February 26, 2001

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton, a woman 
selflessly devoted to the needs of humanity. Many of the Red Cross's 
guiding principles--compassion, courage, character, and civic duty--are 
timeless ideals shared by the people of the United States.
    Chartered and authorized by the Congress to act in times of need, 
the American Red Cross serves our Nation and the world, providing 
compassionate assistance to people afflicted by personal, local, 
national, or international disasters. Every day, millions of Red Cross 
volunteers and employees follow in Clara Barton's footsteps by providing 
essential services to people in their communities.
    For more than 120 years, Americans have relied on the expertise of 
the American Red Cross in disaster relief. Last year, the Red Cross 
helped people during devastating wildfires in New Mexico and Montana and 
in communities hit by massive ice storms in Nebraska, Arkansas, and 
across the Midwest. Volunteers respond to an estimated 63,000 disasters 
each year and help millions of people during trying times of loss. The 
American Red Cross also saves lives long before tragedy strikes by 
helping individuals and entire communities learn to prepare for 
disasters.
    The educational information distributed by the American Red Cross 
helps people feel safe at home, at work, at school, and at play. Last 
year, the Red Cross trained nearly 12 million people in lifesaving CPR 
and first aid, in the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDS), 
on HIV/AIDS education, and in lifeguarding and water safety. Many people 
also know about the Red Cross because of the organization's blood 
collection drives. In 2000, more than 6.3 million units of blood were 
collected from 4 million generous blood donors.

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    Under its charter, the American Red Cross is entrusted to deliver 
emergency messages and provide vital services for military members and 
their families. Staff members deploy with our Armed Forces to provide 
emergency communications and a caring presence to service men and women 
separated from their families. Almost 40,000 Red Cross volunteers work 
at more than 100 military sites here and around the world.
    Through the years, the American Red Cross has reached out to people 
worldwide, preventing and relieving the most desperate cases of human 
suffering caused by crises abroad. For families in need right now--in 
more than 50 developing nations--the American Red Cross is helping to 
establish sanitary and healthy living conditions by creating reliable 
sources of food and water. The organization's international services 
save the lives of people threatened by calamities such as epidemics, 
natural disasters, armed conflict, deadly weather, social strife, or 
economic collapse.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of 
America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, by virtue of 
the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
States, do hereby proclaim March 2001 as American Red Cross Month. I 
request, as my predecessor Franklin Roosevelt did 58 years ago, that 
each American enlist in the Red Cross ``army of mercy''--and give part 
of themselves to advance this organization's noble humanitarian mission. 
We have a long way yet to travel, but together, we can save lives. On 
behalf of a grateful Nation, we applaud and salute the selfless 
dedication of generations of Red Crossers.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth 
day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fifth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., February 28, 
2001]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
1.