Proclamation 5684

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Each year, we set aside a special week to salute the many contributions of minority business men and women to our Nation's economic well-being and to celebrate the free market that makes these contributions possible. Our observance of Minority Enterprise Development Week this year, during the Bicentennial of the Constitution, summons us to reflect on the debt every business man and woman-and each of us-owes to the fundamental principles of freedom and justice guaranteed by this great charter.

By creating a limited form of government, our Constitution protects the inalienable rights of all Americans and ensures equal opportunity for all. Our free market economy springs from these principles. The equality of opportunity it creates makes our Nation prosperous, expands our technological prowess, and keeps our country economically competitive. The more than 840,000 minority American entrepreneurs exemplify the success our economic freedom offers. These energetic business men and women inspire all Americans as they create jobs, bring new products and services to the marketplace, and enhance our quality of life.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of October 4 through October 10, 1987, as Minority Enterprise Development Week. I call upon all Americans to join together with minority business enterprises across our country in appropriate observances.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of July, 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 twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:49 p.m., July 22, 1987]