Proclamation 6436—Bicentennial of the New York Stock Exchange, 1992

When 24 New York merchants and brokers gathered on May 17, 1792, to establish rules of conduct for the exchange of securities and to buy and sell orders for those who wanted to trade, they laid the foundation for what is now one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. Today the New York Stock Exchange handles, on average, more than 200 million shares daily and plays a major role in the unique self-regulatory system that aids in the enforcement of the Nation's securities laws. At a time when the peoples of newly emerging democracies are working to establish market economies and to promote the capital formation and investment that are cornerstones of prosperity and progress, we take special pride in the 200th anniversary of the New York Stock Exchange and in the many contributions that the NYSE has made to the development of the United States.

The New York Stock Exchange is, in many ways, a symbol of our Nation's free enterprise system and of the opportunities for savings and investment it provides to all of our citizens. Led by a private board of directors and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the NYSE offers an efficient market for the trading of securities, thereby facilitating the purchase and sale of stocks, options, futures, and other innovative financial contracts. By providing a vehicle by which businesses can acquire capital and by enabling individual and corporate investors to select portfolios that best fit their needs, the New York Stock Exchange has helped to finance the development of American industry and technology and, in so doing, contributed to the creation of countless jobs.

With 200 years of experience and growth behind them, members of today's New York Stock Exchange are helping to promote American principles of free enterprise around the world. As the economies of the United States and other nations become increasingly interdependent, and as advances in communications and other technologies transform financial markets, the future of the NYSE promises to be as eventful and as distinguished as its past.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 254, has recognized May 17, 1992, as the bicentennial of the New York Stock Exchange and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in recognition of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby invite all Americans to observe May 17, 1992, the bicentennial of the New York Stock Exchange, in recognition of that institution's role in promoting the economic vitality and growth of the United States.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

GEORGE BUSH