PROCLAMATION 7381—NOV. 17, 2000 114 STAT. 3433 We are fortunate to be members of a larger family as well, composed not only of our immediate relatives, but also of our neighbors, colleagues, communities, and fellow citizens. As members of this extended family, we must leam to appreciate the value and diversity of other families' traditions; we must reach out to help those families who are still in need; and we must share responsibility for the care and development of all our Nation's children. In this season of Thanksgiving, let us be grateful for the knowledge that America is a Nation of families, standing together to make our country a better place in which to live and to make the futiu-e a brighter one for our children. 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 the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 19 through November 25, 2000, as National Family Week. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to honor American families with appropriate programs and activities. I encourage educators, community organizations, and religious leaders to celebrate the strength and values we draw from family relationships, and I wcge all the people of the United States to reaffirm their own family ties and to reach out to other families in friendship and goodwill. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 7381 of November 17, 2000 Thanksgiving Day, 2000 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation We have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving Day. Oin: Nation is free, prosperous, and at peace. The remarkable growth in human knowledge and technological iimovation offers real hope for defeating the age-old enemies of hiunanity: poverty, famine, and disease. Our dy- namic economy continues to generate millions of new jobs, and, as wages rise and imemployment falls to its lowest level in more than a generation, millions of American families are sharing in the boimty of this great land for the first time. Sharing in God's blessings is at the heart of Thanksgiving and at the core of the American spirit. At Plymouth in 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest in the New World thanks to the generosity of their Native American neighbors. In return, the Pilgrims invited these tribal members to share in their harvest festival. At Thanksgiving this year and every year, in worship services and family celebrations across our country, Americans carry on that tradition of giving, sharing not only with family and friends, but also with those in need throughout their communities. Every generation of Americans has benefited from the generosity, talents, efforts, and contributions of their fellow citizens. All of us have
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