Leif Erikson Day, 2000

Proclamation 7358 of October 6, 2000

Leif Erikson Day, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

This year, as we mark the beginning of a new
millennium, we also celebrate the 1000th anniversary of
Europe's first contact with North America. At the turn
of the last millennium, the legendary explorer Leif
Erikson--son of Iceland, grandson of Norway--sailed
across the cold waters of the Atlantic from his home in
Greenland to the eastern coast of North America,
completing the first documented voyage of Europeans to
the New World.

In the ensuing centuries, millions of other men and
women followed the lead of these brave Vikings--some
seeking riches, some seeking adventure, all in search
of a new and better life. Families from Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway would make their
new homes in communities like New Sweden, Delaware;
Oslo, Minnesota; and Denmark, Iowa, bringing with them
a reverence for freedom and a deep love of democracy
that stemmed from their own egalitarian traditions.
More than 10 million Americans today can trace their
roots to the Nordic countries, and their family ties,
traditions, and values have strengthened the warm
friendship our Nation has always enjoyed with the
people of Scandinavia.

In celebration of this friendship and our shared pride
in Leif Erikson's exploits, Americans have joined with
the Nordic countries to commemorate this special
anniversary. The Smithsonian Institution sponsored a
traveling exhibit earlier this year to highlight the
Viking explorations of North America; the Library of
Congress hosted an international symposium on the
ancient texts of the Icelandic Sagas, many of which
were displayed in the United States for the first time;
and we joined Iceland in creating our first jointly
issued coin to commemorate Leif Erikson's historic
voyage.

These cultural initiatives reflect the strong ties and
long history between the United States and the Nordic
countries, and we continue to cooperate on many mutual
goals. The Nordic countries are our full partners in
the Northern Europe Initiative (NEI), which we launched
in 1997 to build on the dramatic progress toward a free
Europe that occurred following the break-up of the
Soviet Union. Through the NEI, we are working together
to promote democracy, stability, and prosperity in the
Baltic nations and northwest Russia, to facilitate
their fuller integration into Western institutions, and
to cooperate on such cross-border issues as energy,
health, law enforcement, and the environment. In
addition, many of the best and brightest entrepreneurs
in America and the Nordic countries are collaborating
to encourage trade and the spread of innovative ideas
and technologies around the world. Americans and
Nordics alike value courage, independence, energy, and
resourcefulness; working together in this new
millennium, we are charting a new course for our people
just as exciting and full of promise as the one Leif
Erikson traveled a thousand years ago.

In honor of Leif Erikson and of our Nordic American
heritage, the Congress, by joint resolution (Public Law
88-566) approved on September 2, 1964, has authorized
and requested the President to proclaim October 9 of
each year as ``Leif Erikson Day.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday,
October 9, 2000, as Leif Erikson

Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with
appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs to
honor our rich Nordic American heritage.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord two
thousand, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.