Proclamation 6581—National Veterans Golden Age Games Week

Today, as many veterans reach their senior years, they are discovering the benefits of physical fitness and recreational activity. In Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities, recreation has become an established part of the rehabilitation process. VA experience and research show that sports and competitive involvement can be enriching because of their physical benefits and because of their role in enhancing social, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Recognizing the need to establish meaningful activities for a rapidly growing number of aging veterans, the VA established the National Veterans Golden Age Games in 1983. Since then, numerous veterans have boosted their health and aided their rehabilitation through participation in this showcase program. These competitors remind us of the value of continued physical activity throughout a person's life and the physical goals and fulfillment we can achieve, regardless of age. These games demonstrate that age is no barrier to living life to its fullest.

The 7th National Veterans Golden Age Games, being held at Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers a multi-event program of recreational competition for veterans, aged 55 and over, who are currently receiving VA medical care. Veterans whose military service covers the span of American history from World War I to Vietnam will participate.

The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 190, has designated July 17, 1993, through July 23, 1993, as "National Veterans Golden Age Games Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in its observance.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 17 through July 23, 1993, as National Veterans Golden Age Games Week. I urge all Americans to observe the week by remembering our hospitalized older veterans as they struggle to overcome infirmity and disability and to renew their own commitment to personal well-being through healthy recreational activity.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighteenth.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON