National Homeownership Week, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7104 of June 5, 1998

National Homeownership Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Homeownership has always been the foundation of the
American Dream. Generations of Americans have worked
hard and set aside their savings so that they might
enjoy the security and stability of owning their own
home. The partnership forged between the Federal
Government and the private sector during this century
has succeeded in bringing that dream closer to reality
for all our citizens.

The National Housing Act, which President Franklin
Roosevelt signed into law more than 60 years ago, made
homeownership available to millions of families who
previously could not have afforded to buy their own
homes. The G.I. Bill of Rights extended the opportunity
of homeownership to a whole new generation of
Americans, enabling millions of our service men and
women to start a new life in their own homes.

Building on this legacy, in 1995 I convened the
National Partners in Homeownership--a coalition of 139
community-based local partnerships and 65 national
groups representing the housing industry, lenders,
nonprofit organizations, and all sectors of
government--to dramatically increase homeownership
opportunity in America. And my Administration's
economic strategy to reduce the deficit, invest in our
people, and open foreign markets has led to lower
mortgage rates, more jobs, and higher family incomes.
Thanks to the success of our strategy and the efforts
of the National Partners in Homeownership, we now have
the highest homeownership rate in America's history.

Our Nation's commitment to homeownership has brought us
extraordinary rewards, invigorating the construction
and related industries, creating new jobs, and
enhancing our prosperity. The next generation of
American homes will also improve our environment. The
new partnership I recently launched with America's
building industry--the Partnership for Advancing
Technology in Housing--will dramatically improve the
energy efficiency of new homes, reducing the greenhouse
gases that cause global warming and cutting homeowners'
energy bills. Most important, homeownership has
encouraged millions of Americans to save and invest, to
take pride in their neighborhoods, and to take an
active, responsible role in the life of their
communities.

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 June 7 through June 13,
1998, as National Homeownership Week. I urge all
Americans to observe this week with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate the
rewards of homeownership.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fifth day of June, 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.