[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51363-51364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26120]
[[Page 51361]]
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Part VII
The President
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Proclamation 7027--Austrian-American Day, 1997
Proclamation 7028--Gold Star Mother's Day, 1997
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 189 / Tuesday, September 30, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 51363]]
Proclamation 7027 of September 25, 1997
Austrian-American Day, 1997
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
For more than 200 years, the life of our Nation has
been enriched and renewed by the many people who have
come here from around the world, seeking a new life for
themselves and their families. Austrian Americans have
made their own unique and lasting contributions to
America's strength and character, and they continue to
play a vital role in the peace and prosperity we enjoy
today.
As with so many other immigrants, the earliest
Austrians came to America in search of religious
freedom. Arriving in 1734, they settled in the colony
of Georgia, growing and prospering with the passing of
the years. One of these early Austrian settlers, Johann
Adam Treutlen, was to become the first elected governor
of the new State of Georgia.
In the two centuries that followed, millions of other
Austrians made the same journey to our shores. From the
political refugees of the 1848 revolutions in Austria
to Jews fleeing the anti-Semitism of Hitler's Third
Reich, Austrians brought with them to America a love of
freedom, a strong work ethic, and a deep reverence for
education. In every field of endeavor, Austrian
Americans have made notable contributions to our
culture and society. We have all been enriched by the
lives and achievements of such individuals as Supreme
Court Justice Felix Frankfurter; Joel Elias Spingarn,
who helped to found the NAACP; psychiatrist and
educator Alexandra Adler; lyricist Frederick Loewe, who
helped to transform American musical theater; and
architects John Smithmeyer and Richard Neutra.
Americans of Austrian descent have also helped to
nurture the strong ties of friendship between the
United States and Austria, a friendship that has
survived the upheaval of two World Wars and the
subsequent division of Europe between the forces of
East and West. On September 26, 1945, a conference was
convened in Vienna among the nine Austrian Federal
States that helped to unify the nation and paved the
way for recognition by the United States and the Allied
Forces of the first postwar Provisional Austrian
Government. Setting the date for the first free
national elections, this important meeting laid the
foundation for the strong, prosperous, and independent
Austria we know today.
In recognition of the significance of this date to the
relationship between our Nation and the Federal
Republic of Austria, and in gratitude for the many
gifts that Austrian Americans bring to the life of our
country, it is appropriate that we pause to celebrate
Austrian-American Day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of
the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September
26, 1997, as Austrian-American Day. I encourage all
Americans to recognize and celebrate the important
contributions that millions of Americans of Austrian
descent have made--and continue to make--to our
Nation's strength and prosperity.
[[Page 51364]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fifth day of September, 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. 97-26120
Filed 9-29-97; 10:59 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
