Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 6.djvu/838

 104 STAT. 5228 PROCLAMATION 6105—MAR. 6, 1990 Since the approval of the joint resolution of the Congress on April 17, 1952, calling for the designation of a specific day to be set aside each year as a National Day of Prayer, recognition of such a day has become a cherished annual event. Each President since then has proclaimed a National Day of Prayer annually under the authority of that resolution, continuing a tradition that actually dates back to the Continental Congress, which issued the first official proclamation for a National Day of Prayer on July 12, 1775. By Public Law 100-307, the first Thursday in May of each year has been set aside as a National Day of Prayer. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 3, 1990, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite the people of the United States to gather together on that day in homes and places of worship to pray, each after his or her own manner, for the renewal of our Nation's moral heritage and for God's blessing upon each of us, especially our children. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fotu-teenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6105 of March 6, 1990 i Twenty-First Decennial Census, 1990 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation In 1790, barely a year after our Nation's government was established, the first Census of Population was taken by the United States Marshals under the direction of then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. A total of 3.9 million residents were counted. This year, another census will be taken—the 21st in the history of the United States. Each decennial census has helped to chart the growth and change experienced by our vast country during the past 200 years. The primary purpose for the census remains the same today as it was in 1790: to serve as the source of State population totals so that the number of seats in the House of Representatives can be properly apportioned among the States. Mandated by the Constitution, the use of census figures in guaranteeing representative government has been expanded over the years by the courts. It now includes the reshaping of voting district boundaries for State legislatiu-es and local governments, as well. Since our Nation's founding, the census has been a way of taking a "statistical snapshot" of our people and determining their number and location. Over the years, census information has become essential in the distribution of billions of dollars annually under Federal and State programs for such worthwhile purposes as education, health care, community development, transportation, and crime prevention. Government policymakers routinely use census data to make decisions on where to

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