Presidential Documents

9065

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 39

Thursday, February 27, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 6973 of February 24, 1997

American Red Cross Month, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Founded over a century ago by Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has

evolved from a branch of the International Red Cross into a uniquely American institution, serving our Nation in peace and in war, and through countless natural disasters. Since the Spanish-American War, when the first volunteers brought emergency first-aid and news from home to wounded soldiers,

generations of Americans have followed in this grand tradition of service.

Today, in communities across our Nation, a million and a half volunteers

stand ready to help their neighbors at a moment’s notice. Last year, Red

Cross paid and volunteer staff assisted disaster victims across the country

by opening more than 3,200 shelters and giving comfort to 172,000 people.

The Red Cross also reached 16 million Americans through health and safety

courses, including HIV and AIDS education and community outreach programs; collected more than 6 million units of lifesaving blood to keep

our national blood supply ready, strong, and safe; and provided immediate

counseling and support to the bereaved families of the victims of TWA

Flight 800 and ValuJet Flight 592.

Overseas, American Red Cross workers provided emergency communications

for our troops in Bosnia; worked with foreign Red Cross societies to rebuild

the lives of civilian refugees in places such as the former Yugoslavia and

Rwanda; and provided personnel, financial aid, and gifts of goods and

services to the victims of international disasters and armed conflicts in

every corner of the globe.

Since 1881, the size, scope, and complexity of major disasters have placed

an ever-greater demand on the resources of the Red Cross. Yet, the generosity

of our citizens has enabled the American Red Cross to continue to fulfill

its humanitarian mission, providing assistance to those in need and easing

suffering around the world. We must continue this tradition, and, in the

spirit of service, support this voluntary agency because it truly belongs

to all Americans. Each of us can help keep the American Red Cross strong

through our donations of time, money, and blood.
9066 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 39 / Thursday, February 27, 1997 / Presidential Documents

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, by virtue

of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United

States, do hereby proclaim March 1997 as American Red Cross Month.

I urge all the people of the United States to support the humanitarian

work of their local Red Cross chapters by volunteering and participating

in Red Cross blood drives.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth

day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninetyseven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two

[FR Doc. 97–5040

Filed 2–26–97; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

hundred and twenty-first.

œ–