Proclamation 6007—National Senior Citizens Day, 1989

Our Nation's senior citizens are men and women who have helped make the 20th century the American Century. Over the years, these men and women have made great sacrifices to defend the cause of freedom around the world and to build strong families and communities here at home.

Today, our Nation continues to rely upon the knowledge, strength, and energy of our senior citizens. These men and women are grandparents who enrich our families with their love and guidance; they are neighbors who support our churches, schools, and local charities as volunteers; and they are veterans who remind us that peace and freedom are great yet precious blessings, won at a very high price and kept by the vigilant and the brave.

Millions of older Americans are also valuable members of our Nation's work force. Today, many seniors are working well past the traditional "retirement age" as both they and their employers recognize the benefits of their seasoned wisdom and years of experience.

All senior citizens -- whether actively involved in business and community affairs or quietly devoted to their families and neighbors -- deserve our gratitude and respect. They have shared with us the acquired wisdom of the ages, and they have shown us the meaning of faith, courage, and love of country.

In recognition of our Nation's senior citizens and the many contributions they have made to our society, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 225, has requested that the President issue a proclamation designating the third Sunday of August 1989 as "National Senior Citizens Day."

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, August 20, 1989, as National Senior Citizens Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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

GEORGE BUSH