PROCLAMATION 661&—OCT. 20, 1993 107 STAT. 2751 The discovery of the structure of DNA also set the stage for the development of recombinant DNA technology, out of which has blossomed the biotechnology industry. In just the past 10 years, some 1,300 biotechnology companies have been formed. Through biotechnology, chemists and biologists are able to design and produce novel medicines and vaccines for clinical use. Scientists have learned how to commandeer the cellular machinery of living organisms, so that these organisms produce needed proteins and other biological molecules. Researchers have also genetically "engineered" crop plants to make them hardier and resistant to pests. The success of the biotechnology industry has also enhanced the economic competitiveness of the United States in the world marketplace. There is no doubt that the future fruits of biotechnology, both medical and economic, will be even greater. The continuing preeminence of the United States in biomedical research reflects the contributions of many groups of dedicated professionals at work in Federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in government-supported laboratories at universities, hospitals, and private research facilities. Teachers at all levels—from those who encourage owe kindergartners to those who train biomedical specialists—are also helping to ensure the future success of biomedical research, an enterprise that cannot go forward without both strong practitioners and a supportive public. Unraveling the mysteries of living organisms remains a daimting task. But, through biomedical research, the ceaseless whooping coughs of children have been silenced; smallpox no longer exacts a human toll anywhere on the Earth; and vaccines, treatments, and cures are at hand for many diseases. As the struggles continue against AIDS, cancer, heart and lung diseases, arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and a host of other afflictions, we look to the successes of the biomedical community for our inspiration. We look to the future with our eyes open and with unflagging support for continued biomedical research that is broad enough and deep enough to establish a firm foundation of knowledge from which effective cures and therapies will emerge. NOW. THEREFORE, I. WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 21, 1993, as National Biomedical Research Day. I invite the Governors of the 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all other jurisdictions under the American flag, to issue similar proclamations. I ask every beneficiary of biomedical research; that is, every citizen of this country, to acknowledge the true worth of biomedical research. I ask biomedical researchers, health care professionals, schools and imiversities, community organizations, and businesses to join in efforts to celebrate the successes of biomedical research and to promote this enterprise. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighteenth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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