SK-L: 1998-10-09 Proclamation on National Childrens Day (fwd)

Leslie Schentag (wy497@victoria.tc.ca)
Tue, 13 Oct 1998 13:37:57 -0700 (PDT) 

This just came in.
I will make no comment at this time.
Leslie

  "When Freedom Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Be Free"
     

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 13:25 -0400
From: The White House <Publications-Admin@pub.pub.whitehouse.gov>
Reply-To: streetkid-l@jbu.edu
To: Public-Distribution@pub.pub.whitehouse.gov
Subject: SK-L: 1998-10-09 Proclamation on National Childrens Day

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Streetkid-L: Promoting awareness of the plight of street children
and other children at risk worldwide. Your participation is welcome.
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                            THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                    October 9, 1998



                     NATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY, 1998

                             - - - - - - -

           BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

                            A PROCLAMATION


     One of the most important measures of our success as a Nation is
the well-being of our children.  As a society, we have no more important
responsibility than to help our families raise healthy, happy, loving
children in an environment that allows kids to reach their full
potential.  My Administration is committed to this goal, and we have
made significant progress over the past five and a half years through
initiatives and legislation designed to strengthen families, protect our
children's health, and invest in their education.

     By providing a tax credit of $500 per child to 26 million families,
increasing the minimum wage, and cutting taxes through extending the
Earned Income Tax Credit, we have helped millions of working families.
We have dramatically increased Federal funding for child care and
proposed additional subsidies and tax credits to help families pay for
such care.

     Through the Family and Medical Leave Act, we have made it easier
for working parents to take as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care
for a new baby or a sick child without jeopardizing their jobs.  And the
landmark Adoption and Safe Families Act I signed into law last year
helps the thousands of children in foster care by working to reunite
them with their families, where possible, or move them more quickly into
secure, permanent adoptive families when that is the best option.

     To meet our commitment to the health of all our children, we have
extended health care coverage to millions of previously uninsured
children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the
largest national investment in children's health care in more than 30
years.  Children with health insurance get a healthier start in life
because they receive regular checkups and routine immunizations.  We are
working with the States to ensure that every child eligible for CHIP is
enrolled, and we are focusing on enrolling the more than 4 million
uninsured children who are currently eligible for health coverage under
the Medicaid program.

     To empower America's children with the skills and knowledge they
need to make the most of their lives, our Nation has also made the
largest investment in education in more than a generation.  Today, more
than 800,000 children are enrolled in Head Start, receiving the
attention and training they need to start school ready to learn.  We are
also working with the Congress to pass legislation that will provide
public schools with more teachers, smaller class sizes, new or renovated
buildings, and the latest in information technology.

     Children are our greatest blessing, and raising them well is the
most challenging and rewarding task any of us will ever undertake.  On
National Children's Day, let us recommit ourselves -- as loving parents
and caring citizens -- to ensure that all of America's children grow up
in truly nurturing environments where their needs are met and where
they have every opportunity to make the most of their 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 October
11, 1998, as National Children's Day.  I urge the American people to
express their love and appreciation for children on this day and on
every day throughout the year.  I invite Federal officials, local
governments, communities, and particularly all American families to join
together in observing this day with appropriate ceremonies and
activities that honor our Nation's children.  I also urge all Americans
to reflect upon the importance of children to our families, the
importance of strong families to our children, and the importance of
each to America.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of
October, 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

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