National Consumers Week, 1996

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Part III

The President

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Proclamation 6945--National Consumers Week, 1996

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 6945 of October 21, 1996

National Consumers Week, 1996

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

This year's theme for National Consumers Week is
``service signals success.'' Service is an
indispensable element of success over the long term in
both business and government: service that is
responsive, convenient, and courteous, service that
meets the expectations of consumers and taxpayers.
Clever promotions and deceptive pricing may generate
short-term profits in business. Promises alone may gain
brief support for Government agencies and programs. But
American consumers and taxpayers aren't easily
deceived. They expect quality service, and those who
cannot or do not provide it will ultimately fail.

That is why I added the right to service to the
Consumer Bill of Rights. It is why we have made the
reinvention of government--requiring more
responsiveness and efficiency--a keystone of my
Administration. It is why I issued an Executive Order
that directed all executive departments and agencies of
the Federal Government to embark upon a revolution to
change the way they do business and establish and
implement customer service standards that match or
exceed the best in the private sector. And it is why
our policies continue to emphasize the paramount
importance of service excellence to the success of our
Nation, our economy, and our efforts to compete in the
global marketplace.

The goal of service excellence is not easy to attain.
Consumers must demand it, and everyone in an
organization, be it a business or a government agency,
must be committed to it, both in everyday interactions
and in longer-term goals. Their ultimate success
depends on it.

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 the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 20 through
October 26, 1996, as National Consumers Week. I call
upon government officials, industry leaders, and the
people of the United States to recognize the vital
relationship between our economy and our citizenry and
to support the right of all Americans to excellence in
products and services.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first 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.