104 STAT. 5282 PRCX:!LAMATION 6137—MAY 22, 1990 services and hospitals that are capable of providing the high level of care needed by trauma victims. Optimal treatment includes rehabilitation programs and follow-up services that enable injured patients to recover as fully as possible. Premature deaths, disabilities, and economic costs resulting from traumatic injuries impose a high toll on our Nation. The physical and emotional suffering they inflict upon individuals and their families is incalculable. Fortunately, however, through the concerted efforts of concerned citizens, health care professionals, scientists, volunteer groups, and leaders in the public and private sectors, we can reduce the heavy burden of traumatic injury on our society. Trauma is every American's business. To enhance public awareness of traumatic injury, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 224, has designated the month of May 1990 as "National Trauma Awareness Month" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of May 1990 as National Trauma Awareness Month. I urge the people of the United States, their government agencies, health care providers, and schools to take part in efforts to prevent traumatic injuries and to provide the best possible emergency treatment and rehabilitation programs for those that do occur. I also urge all Americans to support public and private traumatic injury prevention programs. We can reduce the devastating impact of traumatic injuries on our Nation by supporting research into new ways to prevent and treat them, and by aiding those Americans who suffer the physical, emotional, or financial consequences of traumatic injury. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6137 of May 22, 1990 National Maritime Day, 1990 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation For more than 200 years, the members of the American merchant marine and civilian American seafarers have made vital contributions to the economic development of the United States. They have also played an essential role in securing and maintaining our freedom. The effectiveness of the merchant marine in military operations was first revealed during the Revolutionary War, when our Nation's commercial vessels supplemented the 34 ships of the Continental Navy. These vessels captured or sank some 600 British merchant craft, thereby disrupting enemy shipping and helping to advance the end of the war. Since that time, America's merchant sailors have continued to
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