[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 10101-10102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5236]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 2, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 10101]]
Proclamation 7168 of February 25, 1999
American Red Cross Month, 1999
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
For almost 120 years, the American Red Cross has served
as a beacon of hope to those in need. Reaching out to
victims of disaster, generations of Red Cross
volunteers have provided shelter, food, and other
essential services to relieve the sufferings of
families and communities and help people begin the
process of rebuilding their lives. Today more than a
million dedicated men and women volunteer under the
banner of the American Red Cross, upholding this
extraordinary tradition of service and assisting people
across our Nation and around the world to prevent,
prepare for, and respond to emergencies.
The strength and scope of the natural disasters that
occurred during 1998 made this past year among the most
devastating in recent history. Floods, tornadoes,
winter storms, and wildfires ravaged communities across
the Nation. Hurricanes Georges and Mitch caused record
destruction in the Gulf States and Central America. In
total, the American Red Cross responded to more than
62,000 disasters in 1998. Whether it was a fire that
destroyed a family's home or a hurricane that destroyed
an entire region, the Red Cross reacted immediately
with compassion, generosity, and humanity.
Yet the Red Cross does more than cope with emergencies.
During the past year, volunteers collected and
processed nearly six million units of lifesaving blood
for our Nation's hospitals and educated more than 11
million Americans through health and safety courses.
The Red Cross also reached out to the men and women of
our Armed Forces, their families, and our veterans,
helping our military personnel keep in touch with home
during family emergencies, offering confidential
counseling and other support services, and assisting
veterans in obtaining their benefits. In the past year
alone, the American Red Cross pro vided more than
840,000 individual services to those who have given so
much to protect our Nation and preserve our freedom.
During American Red Cross Month, as we take time to
recognize this vital organization and all that it has
accomplished, we can and should look forward with hope
to the new century. For while we can never know the
challenges we may face in the future, whether as
individuals or as a national community, we do know that
the American Red Cross will continue to serve, enabling
us to meet those challenges and to recover from
disaster. As Americans, let us sustain our long-
standing support of the Red Cross and its humanitarian
mission and renew our commitment to the ideals upon
which it was founded. By reaching out with compassion
and caring to help those in need, we can ensure a
brighter future for our Nation and our world in the new
millennium.
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 1999 as American Red
Cross Month. I urge all the people of the United States
to show support for their local Red Cross chapters and
to become active participants in advancing the noble
mission of the Red Cross.
[[Page 10102]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fifth day of February, 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-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-5236
Filed 3-1-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
