Parents' Day, 1998

Proclamation 7111 of July 24, 1998

Parents' Day, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Parents play a central role in the life of our society
and our Nation. They are a link with the past, teaching
our children the history and values of our individual
families and of our national community. They are the
stewards of the future, shaping the hearts and minds of
the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and workers.

Being a good parent means much more than protecting our
children from harm. It means teaching our children how
to love and how to learn; it means working to give them
the opportunities they need to make the most of their
lives; it means fostering their self-esteem and
independent spirit so they can make their own
contributions to our world. Being a parent is a
challenge, a privilege, and a lifelong commitment.

My Administration has worked hard to help parents raise
happy, healthy children. With the Family and Medical
Leave Act, we gave working parents up to 12 weeks of
leave to care for a family member in need. We protected
family incomes through an increase in the minimum wage,
expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the new
Child Tax Credit. We stood up for reliable health
insurance with the Kennedy-Kassebaum law and improved
childhood immunization, with our new Children's Health
Insurance Program. We opened the doors of higher
education to more families by making student loans less
expensive and easier to repay and by providing new tax
credits and larger Pell Grant scholarships. We have
proposed an historic initiative to ensure that parents
have access to quality, affordable child care for their
children. I pledge to continue supporting these types
of effective programs and legislation so that America's
parents have the tools they need to give their children
a strong start in life.

Too often in the rush of daily existence, we fail to
remember or acknowledge the many blessings we enjoy
because of the love of our parents. On Parents' Day, we
have an opportunity to express our profound
appreciation to our own parents, to remember with love
and gratitude those who are no longer with us, and to
pay tribute to the millions of men and women across our
Nation whose devotion as parents strengthens our
society and forms the foundation of a bright future for
America.

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 and consistent with Public Law 103-362, do
hereby proclaim Sunday, July 26, 1998, as Parents' Day.
I invite the States, communities, and the people of the
United States to join together in observing this day
with appropriate ceremonies and activities to honor our
Nation's parents.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fourth day of July, 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-third.