[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 56047-56048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28765]



[[Page 56045]]

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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 7045--National Consumers Week, 1997


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 208 / Tuesday, October 28, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 56047]]

                Proclamation 7045 of October 24, 1997

                
National Consumers Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Americans have always had a passion for fairness. It 
                imbues the great charters on which our Nation is 
                founded, and it is the cornerstone of our legal system. 
                Fairness must also form the foundation of the American 
                economy, an economy in which consumers rightly expect a 
                ``fair shake'': honest transactions and safe, 
                dependable goods and services.

                Our economy has changed enormously during the past 200 
                years, developing from the agrarian system of the 18th 
                century through the Industrial Revolution of the 19th 
                century to the information revolution of our own era. 
                Today, technological innovation is rapidly transforming 
                our relationships with the marketplace and the goods 
                and services we buy. However, despite these dramatic 
                changes, basic consumer values remain the same. 
                Consumers still expect quality and service for their 
                money; they still place great importance on the safety 
                and reliability of the products they buy; and they 
                still want to know that businesses will meet these 
                expectations.

                In the days of Adam Smith, when products were less 
                complicated and their quality more easily discerned, 
                caveat emptor was the ruling principle of the 
                marketplace. In today's economy, where the microchip 
                has dramatically altered what we buy and how and where 
                we buy it, products and services are much more complex, 
                and consumers need better information and greater 
                protection to ensure that the marketplace continues to 
                treat them fairly.

                The Consumer Bill of Rights, first articulated in 
                President Kennedy's 1962 Special Message to Congress on 
                Protecting the Consumer Interest, has evolved with our 
                economy to meet the changing needs of the American 
                people. Consumers today have the right to safety, the 
                right to information, the right to choice, the right to 
                be heard, the right to consumer education, and the 
                right to service. They also deserve security for any 
                personal information provided during the conduct of a 
                transaction, whether in person or on the Internet. As 
                we observe National Consumer Week, I urge the American 
                people to learn more about their rights as responsible 
                consumers and to reward those businesses that continue 
                to give them a fair shake.

[[Page 56048]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 25 through October 
                31, 1997, as National Consumers Week. I call upon 
                government officials, industry leaders, and the 
                American people to recognize the vital relationship 
                between our economy and our citizenry, and to join me 
                in reaffirming our commitment to fairness in the 
                marketplace.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)<Clinton1><Clinton2>

[FR Doc. 97-28765
Filed 10-27-97; 11:25 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P