Proclamation 5616

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

This year, as we commemorate the Bicentennial of our Constitution, it is especially fitting that we honor our Nation's more than three million Federal employees. Their dedication to public service and their devotion to their country, sometimes under trying circumstances, have helped ensure the success of the greatest experiment in liberty the world has ever known-the United States of America.

Our Federal employees are skilled public servants who work diligently every day to build a better America. Many of them are our friends, neighbors, and community leaders. In their spare time, they can be found doing volunteer work in our churches, schools, clubs, and other organizations. We can be grateful for the deep commitment of the men and women of our Federal work force.

That commitment is reflected on the job in Federal employees' myriad of activities in serving the American people. Federal workers protect the public in hundreds of ways, from weather monitoring to transportation safety. They conduct research in virtually every facet of human endeavor, from fighting cancer to improving agricultural techniques to exploring space. They assist the men and women of our Armed Forces in carrying out the mission of national defense. Federal employees make sure that programs vital to every American function effectively, from Social Security to natural resource management to assistance for the veterans whose service and sacrifices have kept us a free Nation.

The dedication of Federal employees is typified by the many handicapped Federal workers who have courageously risen above personal hardships to give of themselves to their country. That dedication is also personified by the men and women of the Senior Executive Service who through effort, leadership, and imagination distinguish themselves in service to the American people.

But let us be sure to honor all the men and women of our Federal work force, who serve today with the same skill, professionalism, and quiet devotion to our Nation they have always exhibited.

The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 53, has designated the week beginning March 1, 1987, as "Federal Employees Recognition Week" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning March 1, 1987, as Federal Employees Recognition Week. I invite the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities to recognize the devotion, contributions, and faithful service of our Nation's Federal employees.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:25 p.m., March 6, 1987]