Proclamation 6866

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Since its founding in 1881 by Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has brought hope and healing to citizens and communities across the country. Today, some 1.4 million trained volunteers work to fulfill the Red Cross' mission by providing relief to disaster victims; by ensuring that our Nation has an adequate and safe blood supply; by training millions of Americans in essential lifesaving and safety techniques; and by assisting members of our Armed Forces, their families, and our distinguished veterans.

This past year, the American Red Cross has carried on its extraordinary legacy across the country and around the world. When a bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, the Red Cross was there within minutes to assist those whose loved ones were killed in the tragic blast. After a series of record-breaking storms and hurricanes ruined houses and displaced people, the Red Cross served more than a million meals and helped victims to begin rebuilding their lives. And today, as OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR works to secure the peace in Bosnia, the Red Cross is facilitating emergency communications between our troops and their families at home.

The Red Cross has earned our Nation's deepest respect and appreciation for its important lifesaving and life-rebuilding work and for its countless daily efforts to promote health and safety. This month and throughout the year, let us take time to recognize this vital organization and do all we can to further its goals of preventing, preparing for, and responding to emergencies.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 1996, as American Red Cross Month. I urge all the people of the United States to support Red Cross chapters nationwide by volunteering and participating in Red Cross blood drives.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., February 27, 1996]