National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2000

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7338 of September 14, 2000

National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

American society today embraces a remarkable breadth of
cultures, and Hispanics are an integral part of this
diversity. The Hispanic American community is a collage
of distinct groups, including people with roots in
Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and
Spain. Hispanics have been an important part of the
history and heritage of the Americas since the earliest
days of European colonization, and today Hispanic
Americans are the youngest and fastest-growing minority
community in our Nation. Devoted to family, faith,
country, and hard work, they bring unique perspectives
and experiences to our national community and
character.

The vibrant Hispanic influence can be seen in all
aspects of American life and culture, from distinctive
cuisine to colorful festivals, and from the rhythms and
melodies of traditional music to the contagious beat of
today's most popular songs. Throughout our Nation,
Hispanic men and women have distinguished themselves in
every endeavor and, with our cultural and linguistic
ties to our trading partners throughout the Western
Hemisphere, Hispanic Americans are crucial to
maintaining our Nation's competitiveness and prosperity
in the global economy of the 21st century.

Not long ago I had the privilege of awarding the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, our Nation's highest
civilian honor, to Cruz Reynoso, a man who has devoted
his life to promoting civil rights and championing
equal opportunity for all our people. A son of Mexican
immigrants, he has lived the American Dream, going to
college and working his way up to become the first
Hispanic American to serve on the California Supreme
Court. A force for positive social change in our
Nation, he is just one of many talented Hispanic
Americans enriching our national life.

Cruz Reynoso's success underscores what we already
know: education and equal opportunity are the keys to
ensuring that people of Hispanic heritage can take full
advantage of America's promise. My Administration has
focused on improving educational opportunities for
Hispanic children through the Hispanic Education Action
Plan, as well as by reducing class sizes across our
Nation, greatly expanding the Head Start program,
working to turn around failing schools, and making
college more affordable through tax incentives and
scholarships. By expanding the Earned Income Tax
Credit, raising the minimum wage, and moving people
from welfare to work, my Administration has also helped
expand economic opportunity for Hispanic American
working families. We have brought the Hispanic
unemployment rate to its lowest level on record and the
Hispanic poverty rate to a 20-year low. We have also
worked hard to create an Administration that truly
reflects America, with the most Hispanic appointees and
the most Hispanic judicial nominees in our Nation's
history.

Even as Hispanic Americans grow in number and influence
in our country, they have not forgotten their roots;
they have not forgotten the pain of discrimination, of
being ignored or left behind. Instead, millions of
courageous and compassionate Hispanic men and women
across our country are working to create a just and
equal society, uniting around a firm commitment to
build One America in this new century.

In honor of the many contributions that Hispanic
Americans have made and continue to make to our Nation
and culture, the Congress, by Public Law 100-402, has
authorized and requested the President to issue
annually a proclamation designating September 15
through October 15 as ``National Hispanic Heritage
Month.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim September
15 through October 15, 2000, as National Hispanic
Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to observe
this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
two thousand, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.