For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 22, 2001
Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., 2001
By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation
With the dawn of a new century, America's
youth face a world of nearly unlimited possibilities. New
advances in technology, medicine, and science offer the potential for
great progress. We must ensure that every child has the
technical skills needed to pursue success in their respective
fields. However, they also require the wisdom and
understanding to make sense of an ever-changing world.
As teachers, parents, and citizens, we have a
responsibility to pass on more than just academic knowledge to our
children. We also need to provide them with the moral
strength to see them through turbulent and challenging
times. An education that nurtures goodness and kindness
gives direction and dignity to the lives of our young people and
strengthens our communities. Humanity has long recognized
such core and never-changing ethical values as vital to the
well-being of a society and its citizenry.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the
Lubavitcher Rebbe, clearly understood the importance of fostering
character. His establishment of educational, social, and
rehabilitative institutions bettered the lives of people both in this
country and abroad. As he once said, "All educational
efforts are basically meaningless unless built on the solid foundation
of good character." Next year marks the 100th anniversary of
the Rebbe's birth, but his legacy of teaching that a nation's true
greatness is measured by whether it produces citizens of compassion and
character remains timeless.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 4, 2001, as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.,
2001. By teaching children the highest standards of ethical
behavior, Americans prepare our next generation of leaders to pursue
meaningful lives as members of a decent and caring society.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand this twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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