    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 38 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
    [Pages 1651-1652]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 8055--National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
    Week, 2006

    September 21, 2006

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        In times of war or crisis, the citizen-soldiers of our National
    Guard and Reserve are ready and willing to answer the call of duty.
    During National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week, we
    express our deep gratitude to these brave men and women and to the
    employers who support them and enable them to serve.
        Members of the National Guard and Reserve put on the uniform of the
    United States when our country needs them most. In the war on terror,
    thousands of these civilians from all walks of life have been called
    away from their jobs and families and mobilized

    [[Page 1652]]

    for duty around the world. They are performing many different missions,
    but all are working to deliver the blessings of freedom to people who
    have not known liberty.
        Here at home, the National Guard is working to protect our borders,
    and National Guard personnel and Reservists help rebuild communities and
    bring comfort, security, and healing to individuals in the aftermath of
    hurricanes and other natural disasters. The dedicated service of our
    National Guard and Reserve personnel is vital to the security of our
    Nation, and these patriots are an inspiration and source of pride to all
    Americans.
        We also appreciate the commitment of the civilian employers of these
    courageous men and women. By providing time off, pay, health care
    benefits, and job security, these employers help members of the National
    Guard and Reserve and their families serve our country and prepare for
    their return to civilian life. In offices, schools, factories, and small
    businesses across America, employers operate without some of their most
    talented people, and America appreciates their support and the support
    they provide to their employees in our National Guard and Reserve.
        National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week is an
    important opportunity to express our country's debt of gratitude to the
    men and women of the National Guard and Reserve and to all the employers
    who stand behind these dedicated individuals.
        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 September 24 through
    September 30, 2006, as National Employer Support of the Guard and
    Reserve Week. I encourage all Americans to join me in expressing our
    thanks to members of our National Guard and Reserve and their civilian
    employers for their patriotic sacrifice on behalf of our Nation. I also
    call upon State and local officials, private organizations, businesses,
    and all military commanders to observe this week with appropriate
    ceremonies and activities.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first
    day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
    first.
                                                    George W. Bush

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 25,
    2006]

    Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on
    September 26.