Proclamation 6990

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

A commitment to learning has been at the heart of America's progress for more than 200 years. Now, as we stand on the threshold of the 21st century, our continued success as a Nation depends on the quality of education that we provide to all our citizens.

American children must have all the tools they need to make the most of their Godgiven potential. We must help them harness the powerful forces of technology, so that every student, including those in the most isolated rural towns and those in the poorest inner-city schools, has access to the vast universe of knowledge available on the Internet.

However, education involves more than books, facts, and homework assignments. Education also concerns the building of character. Character is an anchor of our society, and we should work hard to cultivate it among our young people. If our Nation is to continue to thrive and prosper, we must continue to live up to our ideals.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, grasped these fundamental truths. Espousing the values of education, morality, and civic duty throughout his distinguished life, he understood that learning and the sharing of experiences are crucial to developing the skills that will mold the character of each new generation. By striving to provide the best education possible, we can better prepare our Nation for the challenges that confront us as we move forward into the next century. The Rebbe rightly saw education as a continuous process of effort and experience, in which each person is nurtured from the cradle throughout life, bringing out the best in all of us.

I urge all Americans, on this day and throughout the year, to remember the teachings of the Rebbe, and to work in partnership with educators, administrators, community leaders, and parents to help our young people thrive and prosper.

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 April 18, 1997, as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate activities and programs.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-first.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:49 a.m., April 18, 1997]