Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 87.djvu/1275

 87

STAT.]

PROCLAMATION

4239-SEPT.

4, 1973

1243

three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-eighth.

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PROCLAMATION 4239

National Highway Week, 1973 By the President of the United States of America

September 4, 1973

A Proclamation Since the United States was established, nearly two centuries ago, highways have been our Nation's lifelines. In our early days, the roads—crude as they were—enabled our Nation to expand until the Atlantic was linked to the Pacific. Roads symbolized the adventurous spirit of our ancestors as wagon trains rolled ever westward into new sections of our country. And as the highway system expanded, so, too, did our Nation's economy. Today, highways are a vital connecting link in America's balanced transportation system. They are essential to the achievement of our economic and social goals. And they continue to manifest the American spirit of independence, enabling us to come and go when and where we please. At the same time, highway transportation poses new challenges today that can be met only by determined and imaginative effort. We must work to enhance the efficiency of all transportation so that we can better conserve our fuel supplies and reduce urban congestion. I urge all Americans to join in this effort, to make use of public transportation and carpools wherever possible, and to otherwise save motor fuel. We must harmonize highway transportation with our environment so that we can more fully enjoy the blessings of nature and the works of man. All of us must do our very best to prevent highway accidents, reducing the unacceptable price we pay each day in death and suffering on our roadways. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, which I recently signed into law, will provide a major tool in meeting these challenges by giving State

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