[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 26, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 28887-28888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14087]
[[Page 28885]]
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Part VI
The President
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Proclamation 7098--National Maritime Day, 1998
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 100 / Tuesday, May 26, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 28887]]
Proclamation 7098 of May 21, 1998
National Maritime Day, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The United States is and has always been a maritime
Nation. Our history is tied to the sea--from the Santa
Maria to the Mayflower, from clipper ships to ocean
liners, from the Liberty Ships of World War II to the
huge, efficient containerships of the 1990s--and our
development as a Nation has paralleled the growth of
our waterborne commerce.
As we look forward to the challenges of the 21st
century, we continue to rely on our Nation's maritime
industry and the U.S. Merchant Marine to keep America
competitive in an increasingly global economy. Ships
and barges carry more than one billion tons of
commercial cargo annually between ports within our
Nation. Internationally, more than 95 percent of our
imports and exports by weight are transported on
water--a total of more than one billion metric tons of
cargo each year.
We also depend on America's maritime industry and
Merchant Marine to fill a crucial role in protecting
our national interests and the security of our allies.
Throughout our history, in times of conflict or crisis,
the owners, operators, and crews of U.S.-flag
commercial vessels have provided vital sealift
capability in support of our Armed Forces, advancing
defense, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions across
the globe.
Our maritime industry has made many important
contributions to the economic strength and defense
capability of our Nation, and my Administration has
worked with the Congress to implement new approaches to
ensure the industry's continued viability. Our National
Shipbuilding Initiatives are helping to improve the
competitiveness of America's maritime industry by
seeking to eliminate foreign subsidies, assisting the
industry's international marketing efforts, eliminating
unnecessary government regulations, and enhancing
private sector financing of shipbuilding through
Federal loan guarantees. Under the Maritime Security
Program, the Federal Government contracts with owners
and operators of U.S.-flag vessels to supplement our
military sealift capability and gains access to a fleet
of modern commercial ships and the sophisticated
intermodal transportation system that supports it.
Together, these programs protect our Nation's economic
interests and our national security by ensuring that
U.S.-flag vessels will always sail in the sea lanes of
the world.
In recognition of the importance of the U.S. Merchant
Marine, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved
May 20, 1933, has designated May 22 as ``National
Maritime Day'' and has authorized and requested the
President to issue annually a proclamation calling for
its appropriate observance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 22,
1998, as National Maritime Day. I urge all Americans to
observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies,
and activities and by displaying the flag of the United
States at their homes and in their communities. I also
request that all ships sailing under the American flag
dress ship on that day.
[[Page 28888]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of May, 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-second.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 98-14087
Filed 5-22-98; 10:37 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
