National Housing Week, 1994

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Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 120
Thursday, June 23, 1994

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Title 3--
The President
Proclamation 6702 of June 21, 1994

National Housing Week, 1994

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Homeownership is a great anchor of safety and security
in an uncertain world, one of America's most potent
symbols of freedom and responsibility, of opportunity
and prosperity. The Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) has helped to make homeownership and decent
affordable housing a reality for millions of Americans,
who otherwise might not have had the opportunity.

On this, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of
the FHA, our Nation must rededicate itself to renewing
the effort upon which it embarked in 1934 to expand
homeownership opportunities for millions of Americans.
For shelter is not only a basic human need--it also
affects our physical and mental well-being, provides us
with a sense of security, and is the focus of family
living.

America is a country of many blessings--a rich land, a
thriving democracy, a diverse and determined people.
Our culture is built on faith in freedom and on the
spirit of community. In a nation of such infinite
promise, the continuing problem of homelessness is a
national tragedy. We must seek a proper balance of
compassion and practicality if we are to end the
terrible plight of our society's dispossessed.

Homelessness is not a short-term emergency. It demands
longer term, broader solutions--an array of services to
meet the different needs of people who find themselves
on the streets. Toward this end, my Administration is
proposing a new rent structure for publicly assisted
housing, and we are expanding on innovative ways to
create a new partnership between cities and the Federal
Government to provide those in need with critical
social services and permanent housing.

As a direct result of the action taken by the Congress
and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in creating the
FHA, housing finance was revolutionized, new standards
of housing industry innovation and consumer protection
were created, and the dream of homeownership for more
than 21 million American families has since been
realized through FHA funding. Housing is vital to the
economic and social well-being of our Nation, and it is
essential to the vitality and stability of our
communities today, just as it was 60 years ago.

In the years since the Great Depression, the FHA has
come to symbolize America's commitment to expanding
opportunity for improved housing and homeownership. As
the challenges facing the Nation during the birth of
FHA were formidable, so are the challenges facing our
Nation today.

We recognize the importance of a decent home and
suitable living environment as a national goal for
every American family. The contributions of the FHA
toward the attainment of that goal are a crucial step
in helping to save countless people from a lonely,
often frightening existence. Working together, we can
restore hope and dignity to the lives of the many
Americans who have no place to call home.

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 the week of June 20 through
June 27, 1994, as ``National Housing Week,'' and I call
upon the people of the United States and interested
groups and organizations to observe this week with
appropriate activities and events. Let us renew the
commitment made 60 years ago and rededicate our Nation
to the unfinished business of housing and community
development for all Americans.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and eighteenth.

(Presidential Sig.)>