of America

A Proclamation

The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and cherish, values that are the foundation for our freedoms. In the family we learn our first lessons of God and man, love and discipline, rights and responsibilities, human dignity and human frailty.

Our families give us daily examples of these lessons being put into practice. In raising and instructing our children; in providing personal and compassionate care for the elderly; in bringing the handicapped into the mainstream of community life; in maintaining the spiritual strength of religious commitment among our people -- in these and other ways, America's families make immeasurable contributions to America's well-being.

Today, more than ever, it is essential that these contributions not be taken for granted and that each of us remember that the strength of our families is vital to the strength of our Nation. Recognizing that the family is a national heritage and resource, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 190, has requested that the week of November 21 through 27, 1982, be designated as National Family Week.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of November 21 through 27, 1982, as National Family Week. I applaud the countless mothers and fathers who have committed their lives to supporting families, whether by working in the marketplace to provide financial support or by working in the home to raise children. I also applaud those who, through adoption and foster care, have gone the extra mile to provide families for those who otherwise would have none.

I invite the Governors of the several States, the chief officials of local governments and all our citizens to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. During a week in which we will also observe Thanksgiving Day, I especially invite all Americans to give thanks for the family relationships with which we have been blessed.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of Nov., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventh.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:44 p.m., November 12, 1982]