Proclamation 7147

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Thanks in large part to our Nation's farmers, the quality of life the American people enjoy today is the envy of the world. Farmers and ranchers provide us with a safe, abundant, and affordable supply of food and fiber. American agriculture remains one of our country's most important and productive industries, generating more than 22 million jobs and contributing a trillion dollars to the American economy each year. Today's farmers and ranchers also serve as guardians of our precious environment. Using modern technology and environmentally responsible methods, they have improved our Nation's water supply, worked to reduce soil erosion, and restored thousands of acres of wetlands.

This remarkable record of achievement would not be possible, however, without the essential farm-city partnerships that contribute so much to the productivity of America's farms and ranches. From seed and fertilizer merchants to agricultural processors, from research scientists in the laboratory to extension agents in the field, from shippers and manufacturers to inspectors and grocers, urban and rural Americans work together to share the bounty of this land with their fellow citizens and with people around the world.

For more than 40 years, Americans have set aside this special week to recognize and reflect upon the importance of these partnerships in sustaining our Nation's strength and prosperity. As we celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, let us remember to count among our many blessings America's agricultural abundance and the collaboration between rural and urban communities that has contributed so much to the quality of our lives.

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 November 20 through November 26, 1998, as National Farm-City Week. I call upon all Americans, in rural and urban communities alike, to join in recognizing the accomplishments of our farmers and all the hardworking individuals who cooperate to produce a wealth of affordable, quality agricultural goods that strengthen and enrich our country.

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

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:45 a.m., November 18, 1998]