107 STAT. 2750 PROCLAMATION 6616—OCT. 20, 1993 authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 19, 1993, as "National Mammography Day." I invite the Governors of the 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and the appropriate officials of all other jurisdictions under the American flag to issue similar proclamations. I also ask health care professionals, private industry, advocacy groups, community associations, insurance companies, and all other interested organizations and individuals to observe this day by publicly reaffirming our Nation's continuing commitment to the control of breast cancer. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighteenth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6616 of October 20, 1993 National Biomedical Research Day, 1993 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The Congress has designated October 21, 1993, as "National Biomedical Research Day." On this day, we celebrate the central role played by biomedical research in improving human health and longevity, and we acknowledge the promise this wide-ranging endeavor holds for securing the future physical and mental well-being of people around the world. Biomedical research not only yields the requisite information that scientists and physicians need to prevent and treat diseases but also reveals the fundamental nature of life in humans, other animals, and plants. There is an intriguing quality to biomedical research: A discovery does not always predict its future uses. As a consequence, it is essential that the Nation continue to champion broad-based studies of both the normal and the disease processes. These studies will yield a fundamental understanding of biological systems and will provide us with the foundation of knowledge needed to ensiure successful responses to ciurent and future health problems. An event that took place 40 years ago illustrates how vital such fundamental knowledge is. In 1953, Nobel laureates Drs. James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick described the structure of DNA, the genetic material of all living things. Today, as a direct outcome of their basic research, gene therapy has been devised for children with severe combined immune deficiency; accurate diagnostic tests are available for many life-threatening diseases and conditions; and the genetic mechanisms underlying disorders like cystic fibrosis and Himtington's disease have been identified.
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