Wright Brothers Day, 2011

Vol. 76

Tuesday,

No. 244

December 20, 2011

Part III

The President

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Proclamation 8767--Wright Brothers Day, 2011

Memorandum of December 15, 2011--Determinations Under Section 1106(a)
of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988--Russian
Federation

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 8767 of December 15, 2011

Wright Brothers Day, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On a blustery December morning in 1903, two brothers
from Dayton, Ohio, successfully piloted the world's
first powered flying machine and ascended from the
steady currents of North Carolina's Outer Banks into
the heights of our collective memory. During the 12
seconds their aircraft remained aloft in Kitty Hawk's
gusty headwinds, Wilbur and Orville Wright sparked a
transportation revolution and fulfilled a dream shared
across cultures since time immemorial. Today, we
commemorate their extraordinary feat and celebrate the
spirit of American innovation that propels our Nation
toward bold new horizons.

Fashioned from wood and cloth and powered by a four-
cylinder engine they designed themselves, the Wright
brothers' Flyer I was the culmination of years of
painstaking research and unyielding perseverance. They
financed countless experiments with earnings from their
bicycle shop, gathering data on wing shape using a
home-built wind tunnel and developing the basic
controls for pitch, roll, and yaw that, to this day,
guide our jetliners to every corner of the world and
our spacecraft to the farthest reaches of the Solar
System. The technical obstacles they overcame were
tremendous, and Orville and Wilbur Wright's pioneering
vision stands as a testament to the will and
determination that fuels innovators, inventors,
scientists, and entrepreneurs across our country--from
home workbenches to national laboratories.

As we pursue progress and prosperity in the 21st
century, we remember the key to our success has always
been our unparalleled ability to think up new ideas,
create new industries, and lead the way in discovery
and innovation--just as it was for the Wright brothers
over a century ago. To reaffirm our role as the engine
that drives science and technology around the world, we
must empower our Nation's youth with a competitive
education and the tools to make tomorrow's breakthrough
discoveries.

On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright helped
inspire a century of progress and groundbreaking ideas
when they guided a small wooden aircraft above the
sands of Kitty Hawk and onto the ocean breeze. Even
after this monumental achievement, the brothers
continued to push the boundaries of flight and
possibility, rapidly advancing the field of aeronautics
and our burgeoning aviation industry. They inspired
other early aviators, including Calbraith Perry
Rodgers, who flew a Wright airplane to complete the
first transcontinental flight 100 years ago, and
Harriet Quimby, who became our Nation's first female
licensed pilot and a groundbreaking aviator. So, too,
must we press onward, exploring new frontiers of
science, technology, and imagination in pursuit of a
brighter future for generations to come. The Wright
brothers stand among America's most celebrated
innovators, and today, we recognize all those who look
toward the heavens and envision what might be.

The Congress, by a joint resolution approved December
17, 1963, as amended (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 143), has
designated December 17 of each year as ``Wright
Brothers Day'' and has authorized and requested the
President

to issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of
the United States to observe that day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim December
17, 2011, as Wright Brothers Day.

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