International Education Week, 2000

Proclamation 7376 of November 13, 2000

International Education Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today we live in a global community, where all
countries must work as partners to promote peace and
prosperity and to resolve international problems. One
of the surest ways to develop and strengthen such
partnerships is through international education
programs.

These programs enable students to learn other
languages, experience other cultures, develop a broader
understanding of global issues, and make lasting
friendships with their peers in other countries who
will one day guide the political, cultural, and
economic development of their nations. Some of
America's staunchest friends abroad are those who have
experienced our country firsthand as exchange students
or who have been exposed to American values through
contact with American students and scholars studying
overseas.

Since World War II, the Federal Government has worked
in partnership with colleges, universities, and other
educational organizations to sponsor programs that help
our citizens gain the international experience and
skills needed to meet the challenges of an increasingly
interdependent world. At the same time, American
educational institutions have developed study programs
that attract students from all over the world to
further their education in the United States.

One of the largest and most renowned of these
international education initiatives is the Fulbright
Program, which was founded by Senator J. William
Fulbright more than half a century ago. Since its
inception, the program has provided nearly a quarter of
a million participants from the United States and 140
other nations--participants chosen for their academic
and professional qualifications and leadership
potential--with the opportunity to study and teach
abroad and to gain knowledge of global political,
economic, and cultural institutions. As Senator
Fulbright envisioned, this program has proved to be a
vital and positive force for peace and understanding
around the world.

To build on this tradition of excellence in
international education, I signed a memorandum in April
of this year directing the heads of Executive
departments and agencies to work with educational
institutions, State and local governments, private
organizations, and the business community to develop a
coordinated national policy on international education.
We must reaffirm our national commitment to encouraging
students from other countries to study in the United
States, promote study abroad by U.S. students, and
support the exchange of teachers, scholars, and
citizens at all levels of society. By doing so, we can
expand our citizens' intellectual and cultural
horizons, strengthen America's economic
competitiveness, increase under standing between
nations and peoples, and, as Senator Fulbright so
eloquently stated, direct ``the enormous power of human
knowledge to the enrichment of our own lives and to the
shaping of a rational and civilized world order.''

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 13 through November 17, 2000, as International
Education Week. I urge all Americans to observe this
week with events and programs that celebrate the
benefits of international education to our citizens,
our economy, and the world.

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