[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 14 (Monday, April 14, 2008)]
[Page 506]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8235--National D.A.R.E. Day, 2008

 April 9, 2008

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    For 25 years, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) has given 
school children across America an opportunity to gain the skills they 
need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence. On National 
D.A.R.E. Day, we recognize those individuals who teach America's 
children how to resist peer pressure and live productive, drug-free, and 
violence-free lives.
    Millions of our Nation's young people have learned about the 
dangerous effects of drug abuse with the help of the D.A.R.E. program. 
Parents, law enforcement officials, teachers, and counselors are on the 
front lines of this effort and are sending our kids a clear message that 
drug use is dangerous and unacceptable. In classrooms across the 
country, police officers are answering students' tough questions about 
drugs and crime and encouraging an open line of communication between 
students and law enforcement.
    My Administration is committed to reducing drug use among young 
people, and we are working to cut the supply of drugs coming into our 
country and fight demand here at home. Additionally, we are helping 
spread the message of drug prevention through the National Youth Anti-
Drug Media Campaign and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The 
Helping America's Youth initiative, led by First Lady Laura Bush, is 
working with community leaders to address challenges facing young people 
on a daily basis. These and other efforts are helping to combat the 
destructive cycle of drug addiction.
    All Americans have a responsibility to encourage others to turn away 
from drug abuse and to make good choices in life. During National 
D.A.R.E. Day, we renew our commitment to providing our youth the 
knowledge and encouragement they need to resist the pressures that can 
lead them to experiment with drugs and violent activities. By working 
together, we can help our children build lives of purpose and strengthen 
our communities, one heart and one soul at a time.
    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 10, 2008, as 
National D.A.R.E. Day. I urge all young people to make right choices and 
call upon all Americans to recognize our collective responsibility to 
combat every form of drug abuse and to support all those who work to 
help our children avoid drug use and violence.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
second.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:58 a.m., April 10, 
2008]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
11.