PROCLAMATION 7070—FEB. 27, 1998
112 STAT. 3725
their search for information about the fate of loved ones from whom
they were separated during the Holocaust.
Few of us have remained untouched by the work of the Red Cross. The
Red Cross collects, tests, and distributes six million units of donated
blood each year, nearly half the Nation's supply. More than 1,300 Red
Cross chapters in communities across America teach health and safety
courses to 12 million people each year, providing them with knowledge regarding CPR, first aid, water safety, and HIV/AIDS that can—
and does—save lives.
The Red Cross has become a simple yet powerful symbol that transcends language and conveys a universally understood message of
hope. This symbol draws its strength from the dedication of the more
than 1.3 million volunteers who help disaster victims, assist at blood
drives, teach health classes, and respond to urgent community needs.
I commend the generous spirit of all those who carry out the important
work of the American Red Cross, and I encourage all Americans to
support their efforts—whether by giving blood, donating funds to help
disaster victims, or becoming Red Cross volunteers themselves. In
doing so, we will ensure that the American Red Cross will continue
its tradition of compassionate service in the 21st century and beyond.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United
States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 1998 as American Red
Cross Month. I urge all the people of the United States to support Red
Cross chapters nationwide, and I challenge each of you to become active participants in advancing the noble mission of the Red Cross.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and
ninety-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and twenty-second.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
Proclamation 7070 of February 27, 1998
Irish-American Heritage Month, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
As it has been for many immigrants, America has always been a beacon of hope for the Irish people, a land of promise beckoning on the
far shore of the Atlantic where they could build a better life for themselves and their children. Those who traveled here in the 17th and
18th centuries came primarily to escape religious, social, and political
discrimination in their homeland. But millions of Irish immigrants
who came to the United States in the 19th century were fleeing not
only persecution, but also the specter of starvation and disease brought
on by the Great Hunger, the devastating potato famine that began in
the 1840s. Many of them did not survive the journey; many of those
who did arrive at America's ports were htmgry, ill, and crushingly
poor.
�
