[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Page 493]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7417--Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., 2001

 March 22, 2001

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    With the dawn of a new century, America's youth face a world of 
nearly unlimited possibilities. New advances in technology, medicine, 
and science offer the potential for great progress. We must ensure that 
every child has the technical skills needed to pursue success in their 
respective fields. However, they also require the wisdom and 
understanding to make sense of an ever-changing world.
    As teachers, parents, and citizens, we have a responsibility to pass 
on more than just academic knowledge to our children. We also need to 
provide them with the moral strength to see them through turbulent and 
challenging times. An education that nurtures goodness and kindness 
gives direction and dignity to the lives of our young people and 
strengthens our communities. Humanity has long recognized such core and 
never-changing ethical values as vital to the well-being of a society 
and its citizenry.
    Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, clearly 
understood the importance of fostering character. His establishment of 
educational, social, and rehabilitative institutions bettered the lives 
of people both in this country and abroad. As he once said, ``All 
educational efforts are basically meaningless unless built on the solid 
foundation of good character.'' Next year marks the 100th anniversary of 
the Rebbe's birth, but his legacy of teaching that a nation's true 
greatness is measured by whether it produces citizens of compassion and 
character remains timeless.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, 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 April 4, 2001, as 
Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., 2001. By teaching children the 
highest standards of ethical behavior, Americans prepare our next 
generation of leaders to pursue meaningful lives as members of a decent 
and caring society.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second 
day of March, 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, 10:47 a.m., March 23, 
2001]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
26.