Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 144 /Tuesday, July 28, 1998 / Presidential Documents 40355

Proclamation 7111 of July 24, 1998

Parents’ Day, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Parents play a central role in the life of our society and our Nation. They

are a link with the past, teaching our children the history and values

of our individual families and of our national community. They are the

stewards of the future, shaping the hearts and minds of the next generation

of leaders, thinkers, and workers.

Being a good parent means much more than protecting our children from

harm. It means teaching our children how to love and how to learn; it

means working to give them the opportunities they need to make the most

of their lives; it means fostering their self-esteem and independent spirit

so they can make their own contributions to our world. Being a parent

is a challenge, a privilege, and a lifelong commitment.

My Administration has worked hard to help parents raise happy, healthy

children. With the Family and Medical Leave Act, we gave working parents

up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a family member in need. We protected

family incomes through an increase in the minimum wage, expansion of

the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the new Child Tax Credit. We stood

up for reliable health insurance with the Kennedy-Kassebaum law and improved childhood immunization, with our new Children’s Health Insurance

Program. We opened the doors of higher education to more families by

making student loans less expensive and easier to repay and by providing

new tax credits and larger Pell Grant scholarships. We have proposed an

historic initiative to ensure that parents have access to quality, affordable

child care for their children. I pledge to continue supporting these types

of effective programs and legislation so that America’s parents have the

tools they need to give their children a strong start in life.

Too often in the rush of daily existence, we fail to remember or acknowledge

the many blessings we enjoy because of the love of our parents. On Parents’

Day, we have an opportunity to express our profound appreciation to our

own parents, to remember with love and gratitude those who are no longer

with us, and to pay tribute to the millions of men and women across

our Nation whose devotion as parents strengthens our society and forms

the foundation of a bright future for America.

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 and consistent with Public Law 103-362,

do hereby proclaim Sunday, July 26, 1998, as Parents’ Day. I invite the

States, communities, and the people of the United States to join together

in observing this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities to honor

our Nation’s parents.
40356 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 144 /Tuesday, July 28, 1998 / Presidential Documents

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

day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 98–20355

Filed 7–27–98; 10:51 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-third.

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