Proclamation 6647

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

There are now more than 24 million young people between the ages of 13 and 19 in the United States, each of them unique, each with promise, each struggling with the complicated transition to adulthood. These young people hold the keys to a promising future, and we must help them use every available resource to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Few generations have been confronted with so much responsibility, yet perhaps none has been presented with such exciting opportunities.

In spite of barriers and stumbling blocks, most teens play by the rules as they begin the work of building meaningful lives for themselves and finding their places in the community. Most embrace and promote fairness and compassion, often championing such precepts when others forsake them as unattainable ideals. They work together to diminish prejudice and violence; they find joy in family and friends and satisfaction in triumph and accomplishment.

Many teens are heroes who refuse to give up in adversity, to yield to temptation, or to give in to the negative influences around them. They serve as positive role models to younger children, as leaders to their peers, and as inspiration to older generations. They are our future, our hope, and a very real joy to those of us who know them well.

We are justifiably proud of American teens. They deserve our recognition and appreciation, and it is fitting that we honor them. Our country depends on their energy and dedication. Their knowledge, creativity, and dreams can change America for the better.

The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 75, has designated January 16, 1994, as "National Good Teen Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim January 16, 1994, as National Good Teen Day. I invite the States, communities, and people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and programs in appreciation of our Nation's teenagers.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighteenth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 1:59 p.m., January 18, 1994]