PROCLAMATION 7044—OCT. 23, 1997 111 STAT. 3001 and we negotiated a breakthrough agreement with the entertainment and broadcast industries to create a voluntary ratings system that will help parents identify programs containing material inappropriate for children. Om- proposed funding for the Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Strategy will provide for after-school initiatives in communities across the country to help keep young people occupied in wholesome activities, off the streets, and out of trouble while their parents are at work. Schools also have an important role in educating our young people about the difference between right and wrong. My Administration has recognized this by creating partnerships with the States to help our schools do a better job of teaching character to America's students. Our push for rigorous standards and our promise to open the doors of college to all students who work hard let students know that good character really does count and will be rewarded with expanded opportunity. We also should encourage and commend the schools across our country that have begun to incorporate volunteer service as a curriculum requirement, teaching students the important life lessons of sharing, compassion, and civic responsibility. Developing strong values in America's children requires the participation of all our people. As we observe this special week, I ask that all Americans demonstrate in their personal and public lives, and teach actively to our country's children, the high ethical standards that are essential to good character and to the continued success of our Nation. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 October 19 through October 25, 1997, as National Character Counts Week. I call upon the people of the United States, government officials, educators, religious, community, and business leaders, and the States to commemorate this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-second. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 7044 of October 23, 1997 United Nations Day, 1997 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation In April of 1945, representatives of 50 nations gathered in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization. The leaders assembled for that historic meeting were not idle dreamers. They were experienced statesmen and hard realists, horrified by the staggering destruction and human misery wrought by two world wars, and convinced that the conduct of international affairs must change. The United Nations Charter that emerged from their deliberations was a document both wise and hopeful—^wise in its recognition that lasting
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