[Title 3 CFR 7070]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1999 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 7070 - Proclamation 7070 of February 27, 1998]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


3Presidential Documents11999-01-011999-01-01false7070Proclamation 7070Presidential Documents
Proclamation 7070 of February 27, 1998

Irish-American Heritage Month, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As it has been for many immigrants, America has always been a beacon of 
hope for the Irish people, a land of promise beckoning on the far shore 
of the Atlantic where they could build a better life for themselves and 
their children. Those who traveled here in the 17th and 18th centuries 
came primarily to escape religious, social, and political discrimination 
in their homeland. But millions of Irish immigrants who came to the 
United States in the 19th century were fleeing not only persecution, but 
also the specter of starvation and disease brought on by the Great 
Hunger, the devastating potato famine that began in the 1840s. Many of 
them did not survive the journey; many of those who did arrive at 
America's ports were hungry, ill, and crushingly poor.
But the Irish did not come to America empty-handed. They brought with 
them strong arms and an even stronger spirit that would help to build 
our Nation's great canals, bridges, and railroads. They would wrest coal 
from the mines of Pennsylvania and raise the skyscrapers of New York. 
They brought with them a love of words that enriched American journalism 
and literature and produced writers such as John Boyle O'Reilly, Ring 
Lardner, Eugene O'Neill, and Mary McCarthy. They brought as well a great 
reverence for education and created schools, colleges, and universities 
across the country renowned for their scholarship and social conscience.
Perhaps their greatest gifts to America have been a abiding love of 
liberty, and an patriotic spirit. Irish Americans have served with 
distinction in every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to 
the Persian Gulf, and their keen sense of social justice made them among 
the first and most effective voices for labor reform. From Mary Kenney 
O'Sullivan to George Meany, they have been in the vanguard of efforts to 
improve working conditions and wages for all Americans. Generations of 
Irish Americans entered public service to reach out to those in need--to 
feed the poor, find jobs for the unemployed, fight for racial equality, 
and champion social reform. From the Kennedys of Massachusetts to the 
Daleys of Chicago, from Governor Al Smith to Ambassador Mike Mansfield, 
Americans of Irish descent have made important and enduring 
contributions to the public life of our Nation.
The United States continues to draw strength and vision from our 
multicultural, multiracial society. This month, when citizens across the 
country celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, we remember with special 
gratitude the gifts of Irish Americans: faith in God, love of family and 
community, and an unswerving commitment to freedom and justice that 
continues to enrich our

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Nation and fulfill the promise envisioned by the first Irish immigrants 
who turned their eyes and hearts toward America so many years ago.
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 March 1998 as Irish-
American Heritage Month. I call upon all the people of the United States 
to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and 
activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day 
of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-second.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON