Proclamation 5744

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

The week in which Thanksgiving falls is a most appropriate time in which to pay proud and grateful tribute to the millions of Americans who care for aging members of their families. The care these family members offer to those who once cared for them, or who share other ties of family life and love, is a beautiful reminder for all of us of the strength of love, of selflessness, and of the family.

Many family caregivers are women-wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law. Many must forego employment to have the time for the family care. Many are aged spouses, and some are in need of care themselves. All family caregivers can use assistance in their duties and respite from them. Countless families work together to provide care for aging members, sharing expenses and aiding with daily tasks such as hygiene, medical needs, transportation, shopping, and household maintenance.

During National Family Caregivers Week we can all recognize the achievements of our Nation's devoted family caregivers and express our gratitude to them for their kindness, compassion, and hard work. We can do so, of course, both in word and in deed, helping in our own families, among our friends, and in our neighborhoods. In this way we can befriend, honor, and show our love to family caregivers-and to the elderly family members and other senior citizens who have done so much for us and for our communities and our country through the years.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-165, has designated the week beginning November 22, 1987, as "National Family Caregivers 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 November 22, 1987, as National Family Caregivers Week. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, 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, 10:40 a.m., November 18, 1987]