Proclamation 5802 --
National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 1988
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
All
Americans have great reason to regret and to seek to repair the alarming
incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect that continue throughout
our country. Each year many American children suffer child abuse, and every
year many perish in these attacks. The incidence of child abuse and neglect
cuts across every income level and geographic area in our land.
This
tragic situation is unacceptable -- and preventable. Dedicated individuals,
private and civic groups, and government bodies are doing much to protect
children, but, unfortunately, much remains to be achieved. Caring for children
is, of course, the responsibility of parents; but neighbors, relatives, and
friends must help protect children when parents or others attack or neglect
them. We will truly prevent child abuse and protect our youngsters only to the
extent that we cherish children as gifts from our Creator; foster deep and
abiding reverence for the innocence and the God-given individual dignity and
worth of every child; and treasure the sanctity of every human life.
It
is in this spirit that we must assure
The
Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 246, has designated April 1988 as
``National Child Abuse Prevention Month'' and has 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 twenty-eighth day of April,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,