Proclamation 5126

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

The family and family life are central to our American heritage. Family bonds give us an anchor in the past, as well as hope for the future. It is within the family that tradition is created, individuals grow, and faith is nurtured. Through family living, we discover who we are, how to interact with our fellowman, and the values that make a free society possible.

Families perform the daily tasks that sustain and renew us, including raising children and caring for the elderly. Families not only provide better health but also serve the special needs of the handicapped. In particular, those who have opened their homes through adoption and foster care deserve special thanks for offering the gift of family life to our Nation's less fortunate children.

Today, amid new pressures and needs, America is relearning the importance of its families. For instance, success in the national fight against drug and alcohol abuse must begin with a strong and united family. We are newly aware that the family cannot be taken for granted, and that the support of a family can never truly be replicated.

In recognition of the importance of the family as an essential unit of our free and orderly society, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 45, has authorized and requested the President to designate the week beginning on November 20, 1983, as "National Family Week."

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of November 20 through November 26, 1983, as National Family Week. I applaud the men and women who uphold our families in many ways, as parents, grandparents, as the daughters and sons of older Americans.

I invite the Governors of the several States, the chief officials of local governments and all our citizens to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. During a week in which we will also observe Thanksgiving Day, I especially invite all Americans to give thanks for the family relationships with which we have been blessed.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:30 a.m., November 7, 1983]