PROCLAMATION 6900—MAY 21, 1996 110 STAT. 4537 Trade is also a means of fostering understanding and stability around the world, helping our Nation to build partnerships founded on mutual prosperity. American commerce and investments are strengthening new democracies whose viability depends on economic growth and raised standards of living. From South Africa, to Central Europe, the Baltic States, Russia, Ukraine, and the Newly Independent States, exporting is allowing our country to play a pivotal role in settling and solidifying crucial foreign markets. Trade is also essential to troubled regions such as the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and Bosnia, where job creation and economic improvements play an important role in ef- forts to achieve peace. As we observe World Trade Week, 1996, let us strive to give our Nation's exporters every opportunity to sell products freely and fairly and help our companies to meet the challenge of exploring markets abroad. Their efforts to maintain efficient, high-quality production and to promote American goods and services to an international clientele will lead to a stronger economy and a brighter future for us all. 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 May 19 through May 25, 1996, as World Trade Week. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this week with ceremonies, activities, and programs that celebrate the potential of international trade. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twentieth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6900 of May 21, 1996 National Maritime Day, 1996 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The men and women of the United States Merchant Marine stand prepared to help our Nation in times of crisis. Their outstanding professionalism and performance have been manifest throughout America's proud history, most recently in the Persian Gulf, Haiti, and Somalia. Today, these brave individuals continue to bring honor to the maritime community and to our country through their steadfast service to our troops in Bosnia. Those working on and in support of U.S. vessels play another important role by strengthening our economy. Every day, merchant ships carry the Nation's domestic and foreign commerce, acting as an integral part of our seamless transportation system. Those aboard go to sea to move American goods and materials, to help provide aid and comfort to others around the world, and, when necessary, to defend oiur interests and to seek international peace.
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