National Student Voter Education Day, 1996

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 6924 of October 2, 1996

National Student Voter Education Day, 1996

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

This election season marks the 25th anniversary of
suffrage for Americans between the ages of 18 and 20.
With the ratification of the 26th amendment to the
Constitution in July of 1971, which lowered the voting
age from 21 to 18, our Nation placed its trust in these
young people and gave them a clearer voice in the halls
of government.

America's bold experiment in self-government has
inspired over 200 years of struggle for a more complete
sense of justice and freedom, an effort etched in the
history of the Constitution and its amendments.
Emancipation, women's suffrage, civil rights, voting
rights--all of these battles were fought and won by
citizens of conscience and conviction who joined
together to bring our Nation closer to the ideals
enshrined in our Constitution of full and equal
representation and participation.

Since 1971, America's young adults have taken their
rightful place in this march toward true democracy and
opportunity. Living up to the trust placed in them and
meeting this profound responsibility of citizenship,
they have voted in large numbers and have played a
crucial role in choosing leaders and defining issues at
the local, State, and national levels. Generous in
spirit, optimistic and idealistic in outlook, they have
often proved to be the conscience of our Nation.

Now we are entering a new era in our national
existence. We are approaching a time unlike any in our
past, in which ideas and information will move around
the world at unprecedented speed, and in which there
will be more opportunity for people to live out their
dreams than ever before. I strongly urge today's young
Americans to step forward and accept the challenge of
helping to shape our Nation as we move into the 21st
century.

Register to vote, study the issues and the candidates,
and think seriously about what kind of country you want
America to be. And then, like the millions of Americans
who have gone before you, exercise what may be your
most important right--the right to vote.

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 2, 1996,
as National Student Voter Education Day, I call upon
Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders
of civic, educational, and religious organizations to
conduct meaningful ceremonies and programs in their
schools, churches, and other community gathering places
to foster a better understanding of the 26th amendment
to the U.S. Constitution and the rights and duties of
citizenship.

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