Proclamation 5744 --
National Family Caregivers Week, 1987
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
The
week in which Thanksgiving falls is a most appropriate time in which to pay
proud and grateful tribute to the millions of Americans who care for aging
members of their families. The care these family members offer to those who
once cared for them, or who share other ties of family life and love, is a
beautiful reminder for all of us of the strength of love, of selflessness, and
of the family.
Many
family caregivers are women -- wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law. Many
must forego employment to have the time for the family care. Many are aged
spouses, and some are in need of care themselves. All family caregivers can use
assistance in their duties and respite from them. Countless families work
together to provide care for aging members, sharing expenses and aiding with
daily tasks such as hygiene, medical needs, transportation, shopping, and
household maintenance.
During
National Family Caregivers Week we can all recognize the achievements of our
Nation's devoted family caregivers and express our gratitude to them for their
kindness, compassion, and hard work. We can do so, of course, both in word and
in deed, helping in our own families, among our friends, and in our
neighborhoods. In this way we can befriend, honor, and show our love to family
caregivers -- and to the elderly family members and other senior citizens who
have done so much for us and for our communities and our country through the
years.
The
Congress, by Public Law 100 - 165, has designated the week beginning November
22, 1987, as ``National Family Caregivers Week'' and authorized and requested
the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,