Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 3.djvu/626

 107 STAT. 2564 PROCLAMATION 6495—OCT. 18, 1992 ucts "Made in the U.S.A," country music reflects the best in American creativity and craftsmanship. The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 520, has designated October 1992 as "Country Music Month" and has 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 October 1992 as Country Music Month. I invite all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of October, 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 seventeenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6495 of OctoberlS, 1992 National Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month, 1992 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation This week we pause to reaffirm our Nation's commitment to the fight against neurofibromatosis, a common genetic disorder that affects fiie nervous systems of more than 100,000 Americans. Neurofibromatosis appears in two forms. In the more prevalent form, NFl, masses of tissue grow along nerve pathways beneath the skin or deeper in the body. While most individuals with NFl experience mild symptoms and few adverse effects on their ability to lead normal lives, some persons with the disorder can be severely disfigured by facial or bodily tmnors that may also press against vital organs, causing serious complications such as blindness or loss of limbs, hi the disorder's other form, NF2, tumors grow along the nerves responsible for hearing and balance. These timiors, although they are nonmalignant, often result in hearing loss. Both forms of neurofibromatosis are complex and unpredictable, and there is no way to foretell the eventual severity of individual cases. While many questions about nemrofibromatosis remain unanswered, scientists do know that the disorder is caused by a defective gene that changes the way in which normal cells develop and function. Children of a parent who has the defective gene have a 50 percent chance of being born with neiurofibromatosis. Spontaneous genetic mutations can also cause NF to appear in a person who has no family history of the disorder. Neiu-ofibromatosis can strike any American, regardless of gender, race, or ethnic backgroimd. Although no cure or means of preventing neurofibromatosis currently exists, recent advances in biomedical research offer encoiu-agement to many people with the disorder. The refinement of diagnostic technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging have enabled physicians to isolate tiny tumors that might otherwise go undetected, thereby helping doctors to identify and track progression of the disease. In July

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