Proclamation 5881 -- White Cane Safety Day, 1988

October 12, 1988

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

More and more visually impaired Americans are attaining independence in their daily lives, and we can all reflect gratefully on the role of the white cane in making this so. Thanks to the white cane and public awareness of it, blind people can travel and conduct daily activities successfully.

The white cane has affected the lives of its users so profoundly that it has come to symbolize freedom and self-reliance for blind citizens everywhere. This simple but effective tool helps many people with visual impairments build fuller lives. Each October, White Cane Safety Day offers all Americans the opportunity to congratulate their friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens who use the white cane to such good advantage for themselves and for our communities and country.

In acknowledgment of the white cane and all it symbolizes, the Congress, by joint resolution approved October 6, 1964, has authorized the President to designate October 15 of each year as ``White Cane Safety Day.''

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 15, 1988, as White Cane Safety Day. I urge all Americans to show respect for those who carry the white cane and to honor their many achievements.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:26 p.m., October 13, 1988]

Note: The proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 13.