National Older Workers Employment Week, 1998

_______________________________________________________________________

Part III

The President

_______________________________________________________________________

Proclamation 7072--National Older Workers Employment Week, 1998

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7072 of March 5, 1998

National Older Workers Employment Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Americans are living longer, healthier lives. As a
Nation, we are witnessing a dramatic growth in the
population of Americans aged 55 and older, a trend that
will continue well into the next century. To maintain
our dynamic economy and to fill the jobs of the 21st
century, we must make the most of the creative
potential and productive capacity of this growing
segment of our society.

Unfortunately, many Americans aged 55 and older
encounter serious difficulty finding employment when
they lose their jobs or seek to change careers.
Employers too often focus on the age of older workers
instead of their qualifications and strong work ethic.
By failing to recognize the wealth of skills and
experience older workers can bring to their jobs, such
employers deny them an equal opportunity to make their
own valuable contributions to the American workplace.

To counter these challenges, laws and government
programs offer older workers the protections and
services they need to ensure fair employment
opportunities and practices. The Age Discrimination
Act, the Older Americans Act, and the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act protect the basic
rights of millions of older working Americans. The
Department of Labor and the Department of Health and
Human Services also assist older workers through such
efforts as the Senior Community Service Employment
Program and the programs of the Administration on
Aging.

Older Americans actively contribute to our communities
through their hard work, wisdom, and experience. They
have rightly earned our admiration and respect; they
have also earned a fair chance at a good job. As we
observe National Older Workers Employment Week, I urge
all employers, when they hire new workers, to consider
carefully the skills and other qualifications of men
and women aged 55 and older and to fully utilize this
rich national resource.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States, by virtue of the authority vested in me
by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do
hereby proclaim March 8 through March 14, 1998, as
National Older Workers Employment Week. I encourage all
Americans to recognize the contributions that older
workers make to the workplace and to our economy, and I
urge public officials responsible for job placement,
training, and related services to intensify their
efforts throughout the year to help older Americans
find suitable jobs and training.

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