Thanksgiving Day, 1997

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7052 of November 21, 1997

Thanksgiving Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Another year has passed on our American journey. The
seasons have completed another cycle, and it is harvest
time in America. Once again, millions of us will gather
with family and friends to give thanks to God for the
many blessings that He has bestowed upon us.

This Thanksgiving Day, as every day, we are grateful
for the gift of freedom, for the vision made real by
our Nation's founders and preserved by the courage,
vigilance, and sacrifice of generations of Americans.
We are thankful for the bounty and beauty of this great
land, which has welcomed so many to its shores across
the years. We cherish the love of our families and
friends. We value the opportunity to provide for our
children's future with the fruits of our honest labor.
And, like the Pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving more
than 300 years ago, we thank God for bringing us safely
to the threshold of a new world, full of exhilarating
challenge and promise.

In this new world, our children are growing up free
from the shadows of the Cold War and the threat of
nuclear holocaust. Nations once held captive by
communism are learning the lessons of liberty and
democracy. A revolution in technology has brought the
world closer together and holds the prospect of greater
knowledge and prosperity for people across the globe.

More than three centuries of change and growth separate
us from the Pilgrims and their Native American friends
who sat down together for their Thanksgiving meal. But
the example and experience of those early Americans
still hold great meaning for us today. They remind us
that God's love strengthens and sustains us, both as
individuals and as a Nation. They remind us that
everyone has something to contribute, and that we are
all richer when we learn to share. They teach us a
simple but powerful lesson that each new generation of
Americans must learn and pass on: we need one another.
Like the Pilgrims, if we are to flourish in our new
world, we must do so not as isolated individuals, but
as members of a family, one America, sharing our gifts
and leaving no one behind.

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 Thursday, November 27, 1997,
as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all
Americans to assemble in their homes, places of
worship, or community centers to share the spirit of
goodwill and prayer; to express heartfelt thanks to God
for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us; and to
reach out in true friendship to our brothers and
sisters across this land who, together, comprise our
great American family.

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