Proclamation 4981 -- National Schoolbus Safety Week of 1982
October 5, 1982
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Schoolbus transportation serves a very special and important segment of this Nation -- our children. More than twenty-two million youngsters use schoolbuses to get to school.
When we consider the millions of young people who are transported and the millions of trips schoolbuses make each year, we can take great pride in our safety record. Nevertheless, we must reaffirm our commitment to providing the safest possible transportation for our children. They are our most important resource, and their safe transport is and deserves to be one of our highest priorities.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in accordance with House Joint Resolution 486, do hereby proclaim the week of October 3, 1982, through October 9, 1982, as National Schoolbus Safety Week of 1982. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate activities in their homes, schools, and communities.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of Oct., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventh.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:25 a.m., October 6, 1982]
Proclamation 4982 -- Dr. Robert H. Goddard Day
October 5, 1982
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Robert H. Goddard, born one hundred years ago, is the father of the Space Age. Due to his pioneering vision of space travel and his tireless research efforts in developing the world's first liquid-fuel rocket, the United States has achieved a preeminent position in space. Dr. Goddard was a trailblazer to the stars.
Dr. Goddard was born on October 5, 1882, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was a student and later a member of the faculty at Clark University for 29 years. The Smithsonian Institution first gave him a small grant to assist his research, and the Guggenheim family and Foundation subsequently became his strong financial backers. Dr. Goddard was the first to explore the practicality of using rocket power to reach high altitudes.
During his lifetime, Dr. Goddard was often ignored or ridiculed for his imagination, including the concept of a rocket going to the moon. Yet he was not deterred. And today, he is universally recognized as the world's foremost pioneer in space rocketry and in predicting man's role in space.
Rewards and recognition came posthumously to Dr. Goddard. On September 16, 1959, Congress authorized a gold medal in his honor. A major space science laboratory, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, was also established in 1959. One hundred years after his birth, it is appropriate to commemorate, with gratitude, Dr. Robert Goddard's brilliant contributions in laying the foundation for America's entry into the Space Age.
As a mark of respect to this great Space Pioneer, the father of modern rocketry, the Congress of the United States by House Joint Resolution 568 has proclaimed October 5, 1982, as ``Dr. Robert H. Goddard Day.''
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim that Tuesday, October 5, 1982, is Dr. Robert H. Goddard Day, and I direct the appropriate government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings that day.
I also invite the people of the United States to honor the memory of Dr. Goddard on that day by holding appropriate exercises and ceremonies in suitable places throughout the land.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th. day of Oct, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventh.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:26 a.m., October 6, 1982]
Proclamation 4983 -- World Food Day, 1982
October 5, 1982
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Food is basic to life. Achieving and maintaining an adequate, reliable food supply is a high priority for every nation.
From the first, the United States has supported the principle that a strong nation requires a strong agricultural foundation. Out of our westward pioneer movement emerged a sound system of agriculture firmly based on the concepts of private enterprise and the primacy of the independent family farm. The result has been a food production system well able to feed our own population while meeting the needs of others throughout the world.
Not all nations are blessed with America's agricultural endowments, nor have many nations adopted the incentives that are critical to fueling such a successful agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that as many as 400 to 500 million people suffer from poverty-induced malnutrition, particularly in the Third World.
The people of the United States have long been committed to sharing this country's agricultural bounty and technology with other nations in times of need. We have provided more than $30 billion in food aid, plus an additional $10 billion for shipping costs, since the ``Food-for-Peace'' program was initiated 28 years ago. We have also made available thousands of agricultural experts, a diversity of training programs, and benefits of our intensive agricultural research. The United States is also doing its part to improve world food security by maintaining high levels of production and reserve stocks and by making agricultural products available in the world market so that other countries can meet their food requirements.
We have not been alone in focusing attention on the problems of hunger in the world. More than 100 countries participated in observing the first World Food Day last year. We particularly salute the Food and Agriculture Organization which, on World Food Day this year, celebrates 37 years of dedication to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.
Let us continue our mutual efforts to define the causes of world food problems and vigorously pursue their solutions. Toward that end, the Congress of the United States has again responded with a Joint Resolution designating October 16, 1982, as World Food Day.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 16, 1982, ``World Food Day'' and do call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of Oct., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventh.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:27 a.m., October 6, 1982]
Note: The text of the proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 6.