Proclamations Proc. 7381 of the Family and Medical Leave Act, made it easier for working adults to take leave to care for an ailing family member without putting their jobs at risk. We have also been successful in moving thousands of children from temporary homes in foster care to permanent families where they can grow and flourish. 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, com- munities, and fellow citizens. As members of this extended family, we must learn to appreciate the value and diversity of other families' tradi- tions; 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 Na- tion'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 future a bright- er 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 Constitu- tion 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 pro- grams and activities. I encourage educators, community organizations, and religious leaders to celebrate the strength and values we draw from family relationships, and I urge all the people of the United States to reaffirm their own family ties and to reach out to other families in friendship and good- will. 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 Independ- ence 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. Our Nation is free, prosperous, and at peace. The remarkable growth in human knowledge and technological innovation offers real hope for defeating the age-old enemies of humanity: poverty, famine, and disease. Our dynamic economy con- tinues to generate millions of new jobs, and, as wages rise and unemploy- ment falls to its lowest level in more than a generation, millions of Amer- ican families are sharing in the bounty 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, 2O9
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