[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 43 (Monday, October 28, 2002)]
[Pages 1839-1840]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7614--United Nations Day, 2002

 October 23, 2002

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    The United Nations was founded 57 years ago to improve our global 
community by strengthening the ties among member nations through 
improved communication, expanded understanding, and enhanced security. 
On United Nations Day, America joins the world in commemorating the 
founding of this important international organization and recognizing 
the profound impact it has had on our world and the role that it 
continues to play.

[[Page 1840]]

    Since October 24, 1945, the United Nations Organization has grown to 
include 191 member states. Through its relief agencies, the U.N. aids 
and protects millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. For 
example, in 2001, the United Nations World Food Program provided aid to 
77 million people in 82 countries and helped to avert a severe famine 
that threatened Afghanistan. The U.N. also seeks to improve living 
conditions around the globe by immunizing children, providing safe 
drinking water, and fighting disease.
    The United States remains committed to helping the U.N. to advance 
human rights, healthcare, security, and education throughout the world; 
and we will continue to meet these and other commitments as we rejoin 
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. 
Our country continues to work with the U.N. in supplying aid for nations 
and peoples in need or distress, and in providing medical care and other 
essentials through U.N. agencies such as UNICEF.
    As our world faces new challenges and opportunities, the efforts of 
the United Nations take on a renewed significance. The United States 
recognizes the U.N. for its efforts to support and strengthen the 
international coalition against global terror. And we hope the United 
Nations will fulfill its role in addressing the threats posed to the 
civilized world, particularly the threat now posed by Iraq. As a 
founding member of the U.N., the United States reaffirms our dedication 
to this vital organization and our hope that it will continue to fulfill 
the vision of its founders.
     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 October 24, 2002, as 
United Nations Day. I call upon the people of the United States to 
observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third 
day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
seventh.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 25, 
2002]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
28.