Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 6.djvu/996

 108 STAT. 5564 PROCLAMATION 6675—APR. 20, 1994 The Congress, by Public Law 103-82, has designated April 19, 1994, and April 18, 1995, as "National Youth Service Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these days. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim April 19, 1994, and April 18, 1995, as National Youth Service Day. I urge every American to observe these days with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities in honor of volunteers and in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to America. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighteenth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6675 of April 20, 1994 National Infant Immunization Week By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation One of my Georgetown University professors, Otto Hentz, S.J., has written, "There is no greater gesture of trust than when children expectantly thrust their arms up in the air, telling us in the universal language of toddlers. Tick me up.' And when we follow this command, we witness the complete serenity of children, their perfect trust that they will not be dropped. This is an astonishing vote of confidence. To guarantee that our children's faith in us is justified, we must renew our commitment to protect them from deadly infectious diseases. Unfortunately, less than two-thirds of American children under age 2 have received all the immunizations they need. In some inner city and rural areas, vaccination rates are much lower than in more urban communities. The unnecessary illnesses resulting ft-om this failure are a health disaster and a human tragedy. To prevent suffering and to save lives, my Administration has taken new steps to protect our youngest children. In April 1993, I submitted to the Congress the "Comprehensive Child Immunization Act," significant portions of which were enacted into law last year. In addition, our Childhood Immimization Initiative is the most sweeping childhood immunization plan in American history. This proposal includes free vaccines for needy children, increased funding to cities and States to improve the service delivery infrastructure, enhanced disease detection and immunization monitoring systems, and an aggressive national outreach program. This Initiative will mobilize every comm\mity to practice disease prevention on a grand scale. It will allow us to increase vaccination levels for 2-year-old children from the current 64 percent to at least 90 per-

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