PROCLAMATION 7371—NOV. 7, 2000 114 STAT. 3415 among elderly caregivers who themselves have a history of chronic illness. But caregivers should not have to face their challenges alone, and my Administration has worked hard to ensure that they will not have to do so. I am pleased that the Congress has finally passed the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2000, which will strengthen and improve the services available to senior citizens in every State, from home-delivered meals to transportation services to legal assistance. This legislation also includes authorization for our new National Family Caregiver Support Program, which will provide quality respite care and other support services to hundreds of thousands of families who are struggling to care for loved ones. The Long-Term Care Security Act that I signed into law in September authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to negotiate with private insurers to offer more affordable, high-quality, long-term care insurance policies to Federal employees, retirees, and their families. This initiative will help some 13 million Americans better prepare for the future and ease the fear of having to deplete their life savings to care for a loved one. We must also help families who need long-term care assistance right now. I continue to call on the Congress to provide a $3,000 tax credit for the millions of Americans with long-term care needs and the families who care for them. Passage of a new, volimtary Medicare prescription drug benefit would also go a long way toward easing the financial biu*den on family caregivers. Caregiving touches us all, either within our own families or within our communities. As we observe National Family Caregivers Month, let us thank the millions of devoted men and women across our Nation who enable our loved ones who are frail, chronically ill, or living with disabilities to live in dignity in the warmth and familiarity of home. 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 November 2000 as National Family Caregivers Month. I call upon all Americans to acknowledge and honor the contributions of caregivers to the quality of our national life. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth 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. WILLLyvI J. CLINTON Proclamation 7371 of November 7, 2000 National Adoption Month, 2000 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Families are the cornerstone of our Nation. Yet, today, tens of thousands of America's children are living within o\ir child welfare system.
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