[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Pages 2168-2169]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8091--Wright Brothers Day, 2006

 December 15, 2006

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    America has a rich history of exploration and discovery, marked by 
scientific and technological achievements that have transformed the 
world. On Wright Brothers Day, we remember two aviation pioneers from 
Ohio whose big dreams and extraordinary accomplishments helped change 
the course of human history.
    On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright completed the first 
manned, powered flight in history and ushered all of mankind into a new 
era of possibility and promise. With Orville at the controls, the Wright 
brothers' small aircraft traveled 120 feet in 12 seconds above the dunes 
of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The age of flight had begun, and in the 
decades that followed, advancements in aviation would enable determined 
American risk-takers to cross oceans, break the sound barrier, and walk 
on the Moon.
    Today, our Nation follows the Wright brothers' example of innovation 
as we continue to explore the frontiers of air and space. My 
Administration has outlined a vision for space exploration that includes 
a return to the Moon and a long-term human and robotic program to 
explore Mars and the solar system. By working to expand the realm of the 
possible, we can gain a better understanding of the universe and 
continue the journey that the Wright brothers began more than a century 
ago.

[[Page 2169]]

    The Congress, by a joint resolution approved December 17, 1963, as 
amended (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 143), has designated December 17 of 
each year as ``Wright Brothers Day'' and has authorized and requested 
the President to issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of 
the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and 
activities.
     Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States 
of America, do hereby proclaim December 17, 2006, as Wright Brothers 
Day.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 
of December, 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, 11:34 a.m., December 
18, 2006]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
December 19.