Proclamation 6905

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) celebrates 50 years of service to our Nation and to people around the world. Created from a small organization whose mission was to combat the spread of malaria among our troops during World War II, the CDC has become our first line of defense against disease, injury, and disability.

The CDC's history boasts a number of notable achievements, including its key role in the eradication of smallpox and the discovery of the causes of Legionnaire's disease and toxic shock syndrome. The agency has also led efforts to control and prevent polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases, breast and cervical cancer, lead poisoning, tuberculosis, and AIDS. Recently, the CDC has been a leader in the global efforts to fight emerging infectious illnesses by investigating and containing diseases such as the outbreak of plague in India and the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The CDC's innovative programs also address our national challenges of chronic disease, workplace and environmental hazards, injuries, birth defects, disabilities, and new infectious threats. In addition, the agency gathers and analyzes scientific data to better monitor public health, provide a solid foundation for decision-making, and detect risk factors.

While technology and medical progress have worked wonders for many, such advances are not always available or practicable. The CDC's prevention efforts are essential if we are to ensure that all Americans can live in safe, healthy communities. By immunizing our children, exercising regularly, and making other healthy choices, each of us can join the CDC's efforts to build a brighter future and a stronger Nation.

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 July 1, 1996, as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Day. I call upon all the people of the United States to join me in observing this tribute to the CDC, to recognize the need for preventive health measures, and to strive throughout the year to realize the CDC's vision: Healthy people in a healthy world-through prevention.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of June, 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., June 25, 1996]