National Poison Prevention Week, 1998

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Part VI

The President

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Proclamation 7073--National Poison Prevention Week, 1998

Proclamation 7074--Greek Independence Day: A National Day of
Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7073 of March 12, 1998

National Poison Prevention Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Protecting the well-being of our children must always
be our highest priority as a people and as a Nation.
Innocent and vulnerable, children are eager to explore
the world around them, and in our society today, where
every home is filled with potentially dangerous
chemicals, this can put our children at grave risk.
According to the American Association of Poison Control
Centers, over one million children are exposed each
year to potentially deadly medicines and household
chemicals--a danger we must not, and need not,
tolerate.

Since the first observance of National Poison
Prevention Week 36 years ago, the number of children
who have died each year from accidental poisonings has
dropped dramatically, from 450 in 1962 to 29 in 1995.
This remarkable progress is due in part to the
dedicated efforts of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, the Poison Prevention Week Council, and our
Nation's poison control centers. Nevertheless we still
have much work to do if we are to prevent even a single
child from suffering or dying due to poisoning. Because
poisonings are almost always preventable, there are
simple, practical steps we can take to protect our
children: use child-resistant packaging correctly; keep
toxic materials locked up and out of the reach of
children; and, if a poisoning does occur, call a poison
control center immediately.

This year, the focus of National Poison Prevention Week
is the danger posed by pesticides, which are involved
in the poisonings of thousands of young children each
year. While the Environmental Protection Agency
requires that most pesticides be in child-resistant
packaging, it is up to parents and caregivers to make
sure that these materials and other household chemicals
and medicines are kept locked up and out of the reach
of children. By taking a few moments to read labels and
store pesticides properly, we can avoid a lifetime of
regret.

To encourage the American people to learn more about
the dangers of accidental poisonings and to take
responsible preventive measures, the Congress, by joint
resolution approved September 26, 1961 (75 Stat. 681),
has authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation designating the third week of March of
each year as ``National Poison Prevention Week.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 15
through March 21, 1998, as National Poison Prevention
Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week by
participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities
and by learning how to protect our children from
poisons.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth 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.