Proclamation 5329

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

1985 marks the seventeenth anniversary of the passage of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, commonly referred to as the Federal Fair Housing Act. That law declared it to be a national policy to provide, within constitutional limits, for fair housing throughout the United States. In particular, that Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Fairness is the foundation of our way of life and reflects the best of our traditional American values. Invidious, discriminatory housing practices undermine the strength and vitality of America and her people. In this seventeenth year since the passage of the Fair Housing Act, let us work together to strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws for all Americans so as to make the idea of nondiscriminatory housing a reality.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 79, has designated the month of April 1985 as "Fair Housing Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue an appropriate proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of April 1985 as Fair Housing Month, and I invite the Governors of the several States, the chief officials of local governments, and the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:38 a.m., April 26, 1985]