Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 6.djvu/1041

 PROCLAMATION 6212—OCT. 23, 1990 104 STAT. 5431 NOW, THEREFORE, I. GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of October 13 through 20, 1990, as American Textile Industry Bicentennial Week. I invite the American people to join with me in honoring the more than one million men and women who produce the fiber and fabrics of our Nation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6212 of October 23, 1990 Polish American Heritage Month, 1990 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Many Americans proudly trace their roots to Poland, a land whose rich and colorful past is rivalled only by the bright promise of its future. This month, as we celebrate the many contributions that Polish Americans have made to our Nation's history and culture, we also reaffirm the strong and friendly ties between the United States and their ancestral homeland. Poles were among the first immigrants who came to these shores in search of liberty and opportunity, and they and their descendants have always been in the forefront of efforts to keep America free, strong, and prosperous. During the Revolutionary War, the great Polish heroes Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Kazimierz Pulaski helped to secm-e the Independence of our fledgling Republic. Since then miliions of other men and women of Polish extraction have likewise invested their hopes in this Nation's bold experiment in self-government, working hard to ensure its success and inspiring us all through their great faith in God and their devotion to democratic ideals. While Polish Americans have inspired us by their example, they have also enriched us throiigh efforts to preserve their imique ethnic heritage. Heirs to the rich historic and cultural legacy established in the land of Copernicus and Chopin, these Americans have shared with their fellow citizens a wealth of Polish music, art, craftsmanship, and folklore. The deep cultm-al and familial ties between the peoples of the United States and Poland have long been intertwined with the sturdy fiber of shared values and aspirations. For generations Poles have demonstrated the same belief in individual rights and dignity that inspires our own system of government. The PoUsh Constitution of May 3, 1791, one of the first written national constitutions in history, was modeled after that of the United States and dramatically asserted the Polish people's desire for liberty and self-determination. Despite decades of repression by ruling officials, military invasion by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, and the declaration of martial law in 1981, the people of Poland have remained firm in their devotion to democratic ideals.

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