[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.