[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 194 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54757-54758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26380]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 194 / Thursday, October 7, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 54757]]
Proclamation 7232 of October 1, 1999
Child Health Day, 1999
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
As America's children begin their exciting journey into
the 21st century, one of the greatest gifts we can give
them is a healthy start; and we should recognize that
the well-being of our young people includes both their
physical and mental health.
We have already made great strides in addressing
children's physical health care needs through the
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which funds
State efforts to provide affordable health insurance to
millions of uninsured children. Sadly, however, as many
as one in ten American children and adolescents today
may have behavioral or mental health problems; and
parents, teachers, and health care professionals need
to realize that even very young children can experience
serious clinical depression. The majority of children
who commit suicide are profoundly depressed, and the
majority of parents whose children took their own lives
did not recognize that depression until it was too
late.
My Administration is working to increase children's
access to mental health care and to help communities
expand counseling, mentoring, and mental health
services in our schools. In addition, we fought to
ensure that funding for CHIP contains a strong mental
health benefits component. While there is no substitute
for parents becoming and remaining involved in their
children's lives, we must give families the tools they
need to meet the challenges they face.
Perhaps the most vital step we can take to ensure that
every child reaches his or her full potential is to
fight the stigma that prevents so many Americans with
mental illness from making the most of their lives. In
June of this year, under the leadership of Tipper Gore,
we convened the first-ever White House Conference on
Mental Health, where, among other important issues, we
discussed how to reach out to troubled young people and
put them on the path to mental and emotional health.
The first and most crucial effort we can make is to
talk honestly about mental illness and begin to dispel
the myths that surround it. I am pleased that the
Surgeon General and Mrs. Gore have committed to a major
new campaign with these goals in mind. With powerful
public service announcements and strong partners in the
private sector, we can reach millions of Americans with
a simple but life-changing message: Mental illness is
nothing to be ashamed of, but bias and discrimination
shame us all.
To acknowledge the importance of our children's health,
the Congress, by joint resolution approved May 18,
1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 143), has called for the
designation of the first Monday in October as ``Child
Health Day'' and has requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday,
October 4, 1999, as Child Health Day. I call upon
families, schools, communities, and governments to
dedicate themselves to protecting the health and well-
being of all our children.
[[Page 54758]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fourth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-26380
Filed 10-6-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
