Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 6.djvu/791

 PROCLAMATION 6452^JUNE 30, 1992 106 STAT. 5349 pears to link two important and otherwise distinct features of scleroderma: constriction of small blood vessels and overproduction of collagen. Blood vessels of patients with scleroderma commonly contract for extended periods of time, thereby reducing the flow of oxygen to vital body parts and damaging their ability to function normally. This Hnding and others offer new opportunities to develop more effective treatments for scleroderma. Today, many dedicated men and women are working together through governmental, scientiHc, and voluntary health organizations to seize such opportunities. Their efforts are grounds for hope. In order to enhance public understanding of scleroderma and to emphasize the need for continuing research, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 445, has designated June 1992 as "National Scleroderma Awareness Month" and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 1992 as National Scleroderma Awareness Month. I encourage all appropriate government agencies and the people of the United States—in particular, members of the media and the scientific and health care communities—to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities that will enhance public awareness of scleroderma and the importance of research on this disease. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty- third day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6452 of June 30, 1992 National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, 1992 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Approximately one of every 1,000 newborns in the United States is af- fected by spina bifida, a serious and often debilitating neurological disorder. Spina bifida occurs when a baby's spinal cord develops abnormally while he or she is still in the womb, resulting in nerve damage that can lead to muscle paralysis, loss of sensation in the lower limbs, and bowel and bladder complications. The disorder is often accompanied by hydrocephalus, an excessive and potentially dangerous accumulation of fluid within the brain. While in the past the prognosis was grim for children with spina bifida, currently some 80-90 percent of affected children survive the disorder, thanks to advances in surgery and other forms of intervention and treatment. Heartened by the progress that we have made thus far, our nation remains firmly committed to the fight against spina bifida. Through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Federal Government is working to find better treatments

�