PROCLAMATION 4581—AUG. 8, 1978
92 STAT. 3937
Each American family is similarly shaped and guided by its forbears. Just as a nation learns and is strengthened by its history, so a family learns and is strengthened by its understanding of preceding generations. As Americans live longer, more and more families are enriched by their shared experiences with grandparents and great-grandparents. The elders of each family have the responsibility for setting the moral tone for the family and for passing on the traditional values of our nation to their children and grandchildren. They bore the hardships and made the sacrifices that produced much of the progress and comfort we enjoy today. It is appropriate, therefore, that as individuals and as a nation, that we salute our grandparents for their contribution to our lives. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Sunday, September 10, 1978, as "National Grandparents Day." I urge officials of Government at the national, state, and local levels, and of voluntary organizations to plan appropriate activities so that the contributions that our grandparents have made may be appropriately recognized. I urge each citizen to pause and to reflect on the influence his grandparents have had in shaping his own destiny, and on the legacy bestowed upon our contemporary society by his grandparents' generation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and third. JIMMY CARTER
Proclamation 4581
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August 8, 1978
Hre Prevention Week, 1978
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation Fire causes more loss of life and property in the United States than all other natural disasters combined. In the home, fire is the second most frequent cause of accidental death. Volunteer and professional firefighters bear a disproportionate burden of the human costs of fire; firefighting is still America's most hazardous profession. Every year in this decade 7,500 U.S. citizens have died, 310,000 have been injured and more than $4 billion worth of personal property has been destroyed. America's fire incidents, casualties, and dollar loss per capita are among the very highest in the industrialized world. As evidence of my strong personal concern about our fire problem, I have proposed a reorganization plan that would put the federal government's principal fire programs in a new Federal Emergency Management Agency. This agency would coordinate America's disaster preparedness, mitigation and response efforts. But the federal government cannot reduce America's fire losses by itself. The public and private sector—all individuals, organizations and governmental entities—must help. Together we can eliminate this unnecessary life-threatening destruction.
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