Proclamation 6623—Geography Awareness Week, 1993 and 1994

From ancient times, when prehistoric peoples used colored clay and charred sticks to draw primitive maps on cave walls, our ancestors have sought to identify their relationship to their surroundings.

Geography, from the Greek "geographia"--earth description--is the field of knowledge that examines those connections that link the earth and its inhabitants.

After a recent decline in the emphasis placed on the study of geography, it is once again receiving the attention it deserves as a necessary element in the education of our citizens. The world has become smaller--politically, economically, and socially--and geographic literacy, knowledge, and understanding of other cultures have increasingly become more and more essential.

America must keep pace with the rest of the world. Our Nation's ability to interact in a global environment depends greatly upon our capacity to comprehend and operate within an interconnected sphere. Young Americans must possess the tools necessary to succeed in this endeavor. They must exhibit a basic understanding of the relationships between countries, between peoples, and among themselves. Without this knowledge, our future leaders will run the risk of taking a narrow and uninformed view of the world as they pursue international initiatives.

My Administration's education reform legislation, Goals 2000: Educate America Act, proposes to specifically include geography in the National Education Goals, and we support the development of voluntary national curricular standards to include geography.

We are making progress. By committing ourselves to this goal, we expect results--and we have already begun to see them. Many schools around the country are engaged in wonderful activities to improve their students' understanding of our mutually shared planet. We must build on these burgeoning efforts for the future of this Nation and for the future of the world.

To recognize the special value of geography to the well-being of our country and all its citizens, the Congress by Senate Joint Resolution 131 has designated the weeks beginning November 14, 1993, and November 13, 1994, as Geography Awareness Week and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these weeks.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the weeks of November 14, 1993, and November 13, 1994, as "Geography Awareness Week." I call upon the people of the United States, governmental officials, educators, volunteers, and students of all ages to observe these weeks with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of November, 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