Proclamation 6757

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Agricultural industries, from farming itself to the retail selling of farm products, constitute the largest sector of the American economy and account for 16 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Our Nation's food and fiber industry has had an immeasurable impact on America's culture, lifestyle, and tradition. As we enjoy the benefits of another rich harvest, it is important that we pay tribute to production agriculture as a central aspect of American life. That is why, since 1956, National Farm-City Week has been celebrated in the busy time just before and including Thanksgiving Day.

Americans are blessed with an abundance of wholesome and economical food and fiber, but we often do not fully appreciate the complexity of food production. Today, our Nation's farm-to-market system uses technically advanced tools that enable our farmers to feed and clothe 260 million Americans and millions more overseas each year.

From Alaska to New York, from Hawaii to the southern tip of Florida, American farms yield a remarkable variety of crops. These products bring economic stability to farm families and rural communities, who in turn work to implement the latest conservation measures to safeguard and improve the environment for the generations to come.

America's farmers are helped by countless other professionals who advertise, develop, forecast, inspect, market, purchase, regulate, report, research, and transport value-added food and fiber throughout the country and around the world. This farm-city connection and these millions of individuals provide 1 in every 6 jobs in the United States, assisting and enhancing the efforts of our 2 million farmers every day.

It is fitting that we reflect on the importance and strength of agriculture in our society. The interdependency between the farm and city forms a solid, vital link connecting agricultural producers and professionals of all kinds. It allows the United States to maintain its leadership role as a source for both raw and value-added goods around the world.

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 November 18 through November 24, 1994, as "National Farm-City Week."

I encourage all Americans, on our farms and in our cities alike, to recognize the accomplishments of our farmers and of all those who work together to produce the abundance of agricultural foods and fibers that strengthen and enrich the United States.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of November, 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 nineteenth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:22 a.m., November 17, 1994]