National Children's Day, 1998

Proclamation 7139 of October 9, 1998

National Children's Day, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

One of the most important measures of our success as a
Nation is the well-being of our children. As a society,
we have no more important responsibility than to help
our families raise healthy, happy, loving children in
an environment that allows kids to reach their full
potential. My Administration is committed to this goal,
and we have made significant progress over the past
five and a half years through initiatives and
legislation designed to strengthen families, protect
our children's health, and invest in their education.

By providing a tax credit of $500 per child to 26
million families, increasing the minimum wage, and
cutting taxes through extending the Earned Income Tax
Credit, we have helped millions of working families. We
have dramatically increased Federal funding for child
care and proposed additional subsidies and tax credits
to help families pay for such care.

Through the Family and Medical Leave Act, we have made
it easier for working parents to take as much as 12
weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new baby or a sick
child without jeopardizing their jobs. And the landmark
Adoption and Safe Families Act I signed into law last
year helps the thousands of children in foster care by
working to reunite them with their families, where
possible, or move them more quickly into secure,
permanent adoptive families when that is the best
option.

To meet our commitment to the health of all our
children, we have extended health care coverage to
millions of previously uninsured children through the
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the largest
national investment in children's health care in more
than 30 years. Children with health insurance get a
healthier start in life because they receive regular
checkups and routine immunizations. We are working with
the States to ensure that every child eligible for CHIP
is enrolled, and we are focusing on enrolling the more
than 4 million uninsured children who are currently
eligible for health coverage under the Medicaid
program.

To empower America's children with the skills and
knowledge they need to make the most of their lives,
our Nation has also made the largest investment in
education in more than a generation. Today, more than
800,000 children are enrolled in Head Start, receiving
the attention and training they need to start school
ready to learn. We are also working with the Congress
to pass legislation that will provide public schools
with more teachers, smaller class sizes, new or
renovated buildings, and the latest in information
technology.

Children are our greatest blessing, and raising them
well is the most challenging and rewarding task any of
us will ever undertake. On National Children's Day, let
us recommit ourselves--as loving parents and caring
citizens--to ensure that all of America's children grow
up in truly nurturing environments where their needs
are met and where they have every opportunity to make
the most of their lives.

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 October 11, 1998, as
National Children's Day. I urge the American people to
express their love and appreciation for children on
this day and on every day throughout the year. I invite
Federal officials, local governments, communities, and
particularly all American families to join together in
observing this day with appropriate ceremonies and
activities that honor our Nation's children. I also
urge all Americans to reflect upon the importance of
children to our families, the importance of strong
families to our children, and the importance of each to
America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
ninth day of October, 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.