Proclamation 6681

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Small businesses create many new jobs in the United States and are an important part of our Nation's international competitiveness. Today, America's 20 million small businesses remain at the heart of our economy. These companies are the engines of growth, and it is in small business that people continue to find opportunity, pride, and dignity.

Indeed, small business is the lifeblood of America's free enterprise system. This is the sector that creates two of every three new jobs in our country, putting the American Dream within reach of hundreds of thousands of men and women who provide the variety and ingenuity that are our greatest natural resources. Small businesses employ more than 57 percent of the private U.S. work force, account for 54 percent of all sales, and generate half of the domestic private sector output.

As we move forward in a spirit of renewal and change, there is one constant that must prevail in the economy of the United States. Small business must continue to provide the solid foundation upon which this Nation builds its economic strength and maintains its character. Government, working hand in hand with entrepreneurs, must recognize these contributions and help small business create jobs and increase incomes.

We must support and honor small business for the contributions this sector makes to the economy. And just as important, we should remember that it is in small business that the United States finds energy, faith, and confidence in our system of democracy and free enterprise. Only by fully developing our technological and human resources can we expect to be leaders in the global marketplace.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of May 1 through May 7, 1994, as the 31st "Small Business Week," and I call on every American to join me in this tribute.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, 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, 4:38 p.m., May 2, 1994]