Thanksgiving Day, 1999

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Part IV

The President

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Proclamation 7255--Thanksgiving Day, 1999

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7255 of November 20, 1999

Thanksgiving Day, 1999

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Well over three and a half centuries ago, strengthened
by faith and bound by a common desire for liberty, a
small band of Pilgrims sought out a place in the New
World where they could worship according to their own
beliefs. Surviving their first harsh winter in
Massachusetts and grateful to a merciful God for a
sustaining harvest, the men and women of Plymouth
Colony set aside three days as a time to give thanks
for the bounty of their fields, the fruits of their
labor, the chance to live in peace with their Native
American neighbors, and the blessings of a land where
they could live and worship freely.

We have come far on our American journey since that
early Thanksgiving. In the intervening years, we have
lived through times of war and peace, years of poverty
and plenty, and seasons of social and political
upheaval that have shaped and forever changed our
national character and experience. As we gather around
our Thanksgiving tables again this year, it is a
fitting time to reflect on how the events of our rich
history have affected those we care about and those who
came before us. As we acknowledge the past, we do so
knowing that the individual blessings for which we give
thanks may have changed, but our gratitude to God and
our commitment to our fellow Americans remain constant.

Today we count among our national blessings a time of
unprecedented prosperity, with an expanding economy,
record low rates of poverty and unemployment among our
people, and the limitless opportunities to improve the
quality of life that new technologies present to us. We
can give thanks today that for the first time in
history, more than half the world's people live under
governments of their own choosing. And we remain
grateful for the peace and freedom America continues to
enjoy thanks to the courage and patriotism of our men
and women in uniform.

But the spirit of Thanksgiving requires more than just
an acknowledgement of our blessings; it calls upon us
to reach out and share those blessings with others. We
must strive to fulfill the promise of the extraordinary
era in which we live and enter the new century with a
commitment to widen the circle of opportunity, break
down the prejudices that alienate us from one another,
and build an America of understanding and inclusion,
strong in our diversity, responsible in our freedom,
and generous in sharing our bounty with those in need.

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 Thursday, November 25, 1999,
as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all the
people of the United States to assemble in their homes,
places of worship, or community centers to share the
spirit of fellowship and prayer and to reinforce the
ties of family and community; to express heartfelt
thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed
upon us; and to reach out in true gratitude and
friendship to our brothers and sisters in the larger
family of humankind.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-fourth.