PROCLAMATION 7520-JAN. 18, 2002 116 STAT. 3173 Many adults recall lessons they learned from childhood as a result of observing and interacting with role models. They recognize their childhood homes and schools as places where love, encouragement, and instruction provided them with the tools they needed to become contributing citizens. Today, the role of families, schools, and communities remains crucial to providing stability and direction to America's young people. My Administration strongly supports Federal, State, and local programs that help families stay together, keep both parents involved in their child's life, and utilize our education system to stand by parents and reinforce the values that are taught in the home. I am particularly pleased that the Congress passed and I have signed into law legislation I proposed to strengthen and expand successful mentoring initiatives aimed at serving a vulnerable population: children whose parents are incarcerated. This new initiative—"Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001"—represents the first comprehensive Federal ef- fort to improve the lives of these children. This important legislation will help surround vulnerable youth with positive, one-on-one role models, and help them not just dream big dreams, but achieve them. On the occasion of National Mentoring Month, we pay tribute to the parents, teachers, community leaders, and citizens who serve as mentors and role models for our children. We encourage others to become involved in mentoring. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 January 2002 as National Mentoring Month. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the importance of being role models for our youth, to look for mentoring opportunities in their communities, and to celebrate this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth. GEORGE W. BUSH Proclamation 7520 of January 18, 2002 National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2002 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation This Nation was founded upon the belief that every human being is endowed by our Creator with certain "unalienable rights." Chief among them is the right to life itself. The Signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their own lives, fortunes, and honor to guarantee inalienable rights for all of the new country's citizens. These visionaries recognized that an essential human dignity attached to all persons by virtue of their very existence and not just to the strong, the independent, or the healthy. That value should apply to every Amer-
�
