Proclamation 7188

The American experience is deeply rooted in the desire to expand our frontiers and increase our knowledge about ourselves and our world. We stand at the end of a century marked by wondrous advances in science and technology-advances that have immeasurably improved the lives of our citizens. As recently as 100 years ago, space travel, genetic engineering, and telecommunications existed only in the realms of imagination and science fiction. Today, the nascent International Space Station, the nearly complete Human Genome Project, and the flourishing Internet attest to the great strides our civilization and our Nation have made. The scope and speed of our discoveries are truly breathtaking, and each day new applications of science and technology enrich our lives in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, engineering, and the arts.

Recognizing the importance of maintaining America's scientific and technological leadership, my Administration is seeking increased funding in areas like biomedical research and in earth and space sciences. My fiscal year 2000 budget also proposes a 28 percent increase in information technology research to finance a new initiative-Information Technology for the Twenty-First Century (IT²). This initiative will support long-term information technology research that will lead to fundamental advances in communications and improvements in computing.

During National Science and Technology Week, in communities large and small, engineers, scientists, educators, business people, and community leaders will lead observances to help their fellow citizens appreciate the world's scientific and technological wonders. I encourage all Americans-and especially our young people-to participate in the many educational activities taking place across our Nation. The more we understand and appreciate the extraordinary tools that science and technology place at our fingertips, the more we can accomplish in our efforts to create a cleaner environment, healthier families, better schools, and a brighter future. The only limit on our achievements is our imagination.

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 April 25 to May 1, 1999, as National Science and Technology Week. I call upon educators and students, the business community, and all the people of the United States to work this week and throughout the year to learn more about the contributions science and technology make to our lives and our future.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-third.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 27, 1999]