[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59203-59204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29537]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 212 / Tuesday, November 3, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 59203]]
Proclamation 7145 of October 29, 1998
National Adoption Month, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Every child deserves a safe and loving family. But each
year, thousands of American children grow up without
such families, lacking the stability and sense of
permanency they need to thrive. More than 100,000 such
children--orphaned, abandoned, abused, or unable to
remain at home for other serious reasons--will need
homes in the next few years. Although foster care
provides a good supportive temporary environment for
these children, adoption can provide them with the
sustained love and care of permanent families and can
give adults the chance to open their hearts and homes
to a child they will cherish.
My Administration has worked hard both to improve the
experience of children awaiting adoption and to
increase their chances of adoption. Last November, I
signed into law the Adoption and Safe Families Act of
1997, which made sweeping changes in our Nation's child
welfare system. This legislation underscores the
importance of safety and permanency for children
awaiting adoption and focuses on the urgency of finding
adoptive families. In addition to achieving passage of
this landmark legislation, we have made adoption easier
by barring discrimination by race or ethnicity, by
providing a tax credit for newly adoptive parents, and
by ensuring that adoptive parents are covered by the
Family and Medical Leave Act.
We must strengthen such efforts if we are to meet our
national goal of doubling the number of adoptions by
the year 2002. In addition, while adoption in America
has increased in recent years, more than 25,000 young
Americans each year reach the age of 18 and leave the
child welfare system without permanent homes or
families. This statistic tells us that we still have
much to do. We must not only secure the placement of
young children in families, but also move aggressively
to place in permanent families our older children, as
well. I have directed the Federal Government to work
with State and local governments to continue
identifying and removing the barriers that prevent
young people from moving from our child welfare system
into adoptive families.
Working together--policymakers, government officials,
family welfare agencies, religious and community
organizations, and families--we can make a difference
in the lives of thousands of children. My
Administration will continue to support efforts to
recruit and strengthen adoptive families and to shorten
the time it takes to move children from foster care to
permanent homes; to reduce the backlogs in our Nation's
juvenile and family court systems; and to promote
strong, supportive adoption programs that meet the
needs of every child.
During National Adoption Month, let us recommit
ourselves to the goal of finding a safe, permanent, and
loving home for every child in need. Let us also honor
the many caring families across our Nation who have
opened their arms and their hearts to a child through
adoption. By making such a profound and loving
commitment to our Nation's most vulnerable children,
they are also making a lasting investment in America's
future.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution
[[Page 59204]]
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
November 1998 as National Adoption Month. I urge all
Americans to observe this month with appropriate
programs and activities to honor adoptive families and
to participate in efforts to find permanent, loving
homes for waiting children.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 98-29537
Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
