104 STAT. 5400 PROCLAMATION 6187—SEPT. 26, 1990 The Task Force has worked to find ways to improve Federal education programs that serve Hispanic Americans. By enhancing the educational opportunities available to Americans of Spanish and Latin American descent, we can help to promote their continued social and economic advancement. In recognition of the outstanding achievements of Hispanic Americans, the Congress, by Joint Resolution approved September 17, 1968, as amended by Public Law 100-402, has authorized and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating the month beginning September 15 and ending October 15 as "National Hispanic Heritage Month." NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month beginning September 15, 1990, and ending October 15, 1990, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty- fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth. GEORGE BUSH Editorial note: For the President's remarks of Sept. 24, 1990 on signing Proclamation 6186, see the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 26, p. 1437). Proclamation 6187 of September 26, 1990 Gold Star Mother's Day, 1990 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Few Americans could have a more profound understanding of the price of freedom than our Nation's Gold Star Mothers. These proud and courageous women are the mothers of U.S. military personnel who have perished in the line of duty. Anyone who has been blessed with children knows that there is no greater heartache than losing a son or daughter. The mothers of those brave and selfless Americans who have died to defend the lives and liberty of others have suffered greatly, yet they have also inspired us with their unfailing faith and patriotism. These women, known as Gold Star Mothers, merit our lasting respect and gratitude. In his now-famous letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, a Boston widow who was reported to have lost several sons during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln wrote: I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic that they died to save. I pray that the Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
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