[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40725-40726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20151]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 145 / Tuesday, July 29, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 40725]]
Proclamation 7015 of July 25, 1997
Parents' Day, 1997
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
There are few experiences in life more challenging or
more rewarding than being a parent. Holding their child
for the first time, parents suddenly realize that they
are totally responsible for this small person entrusted
to their care. On Parents' Day, we pay tribute to these
quiet heroes among us--the mothers and fathers who make
a lifetime commitment to their children.
Parents work hard to meet their children's need for
food, shelter, clothing, and protection; but more
important, they give their daughters and sons the deep
and abiding love, guidance, attention, and
encouragement that empowers them with the values and
self-esteem to succeed in life. Parents love their
children as they are, yet still help them to dream big
dreams about who they can become.
The more we learn about our children, the more we
realize the importance of good parenting. As we learned
at the recent White House Conference on Early Childhood
Development and Learning, the first few years of life
are crucial to a child's emotional, social, and
intellectual development. As their children's first and
most influential teachers, parents play an immeasurably
important role in helping their sons and daughters grow
into happy and healthy adulthood.
The responsibilities of parenthood have become even
more challenging in today's complex world. In many
American families, both parents must work, struggling
to balance the demands of job, home, and family. This
balancing act is even harder for single parents, who
must face the challenge of raising their children
alone. In our mobile society, parents are often less
able to rely on an extended family to help them provide
the care and attention their children need. And today's
mothers and fathers must protect their children from
the ever-present threats of drugs, gangs, guns,
violence, and unhealthy influences in the media and on
the Internet.
Recognizing that good parents are the foundation of
our society, my Administration has strived for the past
4 years to give parents the help they need to meet
their responsibilities. I signed into law the Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we are now proposing
an expansion of that legislation to allow workers up to
24 hours of unpaid leave each year to meet family
obligations. We are fighting to make our neighborhoods
safer and drug-free and to reduce juvenile crime. We
have expanded and improved Head Start to help parents
prepare their young children to enter school ready to
learn, and we have created an Early Head Start Program
for children age 3 and under. We succeeded in requiring
the installation of the V-chip and in helping to
develop a voluntary ratings system on television so
that parents can better protect their children from
inappropriate material. And we are working with the
computer industry to provide family-friendly controls
that will give parents similar tools to use on the
Internet.
As we observe Parents' Day this year, I urge all
Americans to join me in paying tribute to the millions
of mothers and fathers--biological and adoptive, foster
parents and stepparents--whose boundless love and
selfless efforts are building a better life for their
children and for our nation. Let
[[Page 40726]]
us repay that love and effort by striving, in our
neighborhoods, schools, businesses, community and
church organizations, and in government at every level,
to help parents fulfill their awesome responsibilities
and create a brighter 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 27, 1997, 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.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-second.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 97-20151
Filed 7-28-97; 11:30 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
