Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1998

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Part III

The President

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Proclamation 7089--Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1998

Proclamation 7090--Law Day, U.S.A., 1998

Proclamation 7091--Loyalty Day, 1998

Proclamation 7092--Older Americans Month, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7089 of April 30, 1998

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Like millions of others who left their homelands to
come to America, the first Asian and Pacific Island
immigrants who arrived here in the 19th century were
seeking a better life than the one they left behind.
Many were poor; many had suffered oppression; but all
were strengthened by a rich culture, an ancient
heritage, a belief in freedom's promise, and a
willingness to work for their share of the American
Dream.

For many, however, that dream was deferred. These
courageous men and women from Asia and the Pacific
Islands were met in America by prejudice as they
strived to make a living and establish a home in their
adopted country.

These brave new Americans would prevail over every
hardship. Whether working in the gold fields of
California, laboring on the sugar and pineapple
plantations of Hawaii, constructing the
transcontinental railway, or creating their own
businesses, Asian and Pacific Americans succeeded in
building new lives for themselves and their families.

Today, Asian and Pacific Americans are helping to build
a vibrant America. They are leaders in medical and
scientific research, in the halls of Congress, in the
classrooms of our educational institutions, in
business, labor, the arts, and every other human
endeavor. They are building economic and technological
bridges across the Pacific and beyond, which will
ensure America's leadership well into the next
millennium. These sons and daughters of Cambodia,
China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, the
Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and so many other Asian
and Pacific lands have enriched our national life and
culture with their energy and talents, with their
commitment to family and community, and with their
enduring reverence for freedom.

As we approach the 21st century, Asian and Pacific
Americans are playing an increasingly important role in
the life of our Nation, helping us to maintain our
leadership in the global economy. More important, they
are inspiring us to embrace the wider world, to
recognize and appreciate the blessing of our great
diversity, and to become one America.

To honor the accomplishments of Asian and Pacific
Americans and to recognize their many contributions to
our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 102-450, has
designated the month of May as ``Asian/Pacific American
Heritage Month.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1998
as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. I call upon
the people of the United States to observe this month
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of April, 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.