Proclamation 5853—Minority Enterprise Development Week, 1988

America's economic progress depends on full participation by all our citizens. Our Nation will continue to command economic respect worldwide into the 21st century, but we will do so only so long as we continue to maintain our technological prowess; rekindle our entrepreneurial spirit; reduce government intervention in the marketplace; and seek to ensure that Americans of all races, creeds, colors, and national origins have every chance to take full part in the domestic and international economy.

Our more than 800,000 minority business men and women truly exemplify the meaning of entrepreneurship—the overcoming of every obstacle in the effort to find and fulfill efficiently a need for a product or service. Minority entrepreneurs are an indispensable force in our economy, enhancing life for all Americans by introducing innovations in business and by participating more extensively in the Federal procurement process with the cooperative support of government.

It is particularly important now to encourage minority business owners to pursue available export opportunities. Such trade can make minority entrepreneurs instrumental in export markets and create a wide range of new opportunities.

During Minority Enterprise Development Week, and throughout the year, we can all be deeply thankful for the economic freedom that enables America's business men and women, including minorities, to seek their vision of a better future for themselves, their children, and their country.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, 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 the week of October 2 through October 8, 1988, as Minority Enterprise Development Week. I call upon all Americans to join with minority business enterprises across our country in appropriate observances.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of September, 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