PROCLAMATION 6777—MAR. 14, 1995 109 STAT. 1757 plan appropriate responses to natural disasters, educate individuals about workplace hazards, and encourage responsible behavior in all that we do. Their leadership is helping America to address one of humanity's most essential concerns, and their service is building a safer, healthier future for all of our people. 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 the week of April 3 through April 9, 1995, as "National Public Health Week." I call upon all Federal, State, and local public health agencies to join with appropriate private organizations and educational institutions in celebrating this occasion with activities to promote healthy lifestyles and to heighten awareness of the many benefits good health brings. ,IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and nineteenth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6777 of March 14, 1995 National Day of Prayer, 1995 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Our Nation was built on the steadfast foundation of the prayers of our ancestors. In times of blessing and crisis, stability and change, thanksgiving and repentance, appeals for Divine direction have helped the citizens of the United States to remain faithful to our long-standing commitment to life, liberty, and justice for all. This reliance on spiritual assistance has especially characterized times of national transition and uncertainty. As our country was ravaged by the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln remarked, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." And with him, millions of slaves cried out to the Almighty for an end to their suffering. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass said this about the spiritual songs sung on the plantations: "Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains." Since that time, we have witnessed tremendous improvements in relations between people of all races and backgrounds. Indeed, long ago, through the work of prayer and common effort, and with the inspiration of the Creator, we began to turn the tide in this Nation from divisiveness and recrimination toward reconciliation and healing. Let us not forget those painful lessons of our past, but continue to seek the guidance of God in all the affairs of our Nation. We must not become complacent, but rather press onward for the protection of the vulnerable and the downtrodden. In the words of President Lincoln, "it behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and pray for clemency and forgiveness" for
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