Proclamation 4838 -- Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust
April 22, 1981
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The Congress of the United States established the United States Holocaust Memorial Council to create a living memorial to the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Its purpose: So mankind will never lose memory of that terrible moment in time when the awful spectre of death camps stained the history of our world.
When America and its allies liberated those haunting places of terror and sick destructiveness, the world came to a vivid and tragic understanding of the evil it faced in those years of the Second World War. Each of those names -- Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Treblinka and so many others -- became synonymous with horror.
The millions of deaths, the gas chambers, the inhuman crematoria, and the thousands of people who somehow survived with lifetime scars are all now part of the conscience of history. Forever must we remember just how precious is civilization, how important is liberty, and how heroic is the human spirit.
Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it -- and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples -- the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.
As part of its mandate, the Holocaust Memorial Council has been directed to designate annual Days of Remembrance as a national, civic commemoration of the Holocaust, and to encourage and sponsor appropriate observances throughout the United States. This year, the national Days of Remembrance will be observed on April 26 through May 3.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby ask the people of the United States to observe this solemn anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, with appropriate study, prayers and commemoration, as a tribute to the spirit of freedom and justice which Americans fought so hard and well to preserve.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifth.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:52 a.m., April 23, 1981]
Note: The President's remarks at the first annual commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust are on April 30, 1981.
Proclamation 4839 -- National Defense Transportation Day and National Transportation Week, 1981
April 22, 1981
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
From the Boston Post Road to the Pony Express to the golden spike that joined together the transcontinental railroads . . . from the flight at Kitty Hawk and the appearance of the first horseless carriage to the advent of jet travel and the development of the interstate highway system . . . transportation in America has played a vital and historical role in our development as a Nation.
Today, transportation is still vital to our economy, necessary to our defense, essential to our personal mobility and leisure. Transportation keeps America moving, producing, and growing.
Among the Americans who contribute to transportation are the hundreds of thousands who build machines, construct the facilities, operate and maintain the equipment, and provide the services that make our transportation systems work. Countless others labor to make transportation better and to meet the needs of our changing times.
In their honor and in recognition of the indispensable role transportation plays in our lives, we set aside one week each year as National Transportation Week.
By joint resolution, the Congress on May 16, 1957, requested the President to proclaim the third Friday in each May as National Defense Transportation Day, and by joint resolution of May 14, 1962, requested the President to designate the week in which that Friday falls as National Transportation Week.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Friday, May 15, 1981, as National Defense Transportation Day, and the week beginning May 10, 1981, as National Transportation Week.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifth.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:53 a.m., April 23, 1981]
Proclamation 4840 -- National Maritime Day, 1981
April 22, 1981
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The maritime industry has been a key contributor to our economic strength and security since our Nation was founded. Its continued growth and prosperity is necessary for the economic renewal we all seek.
As the leader in world trade and the principal military power of the free world, the United States conveys goodwill through its Merchant Marine, serving the cause of international peace. The Merchant Marine also stands ready to provide logistical support in military emergencies.
In recognition of the importance of the American Merchant Marine and the men and women serving aboard our merchant ships, Americans have observed National Maritime Day on May 22 for the last 49 years. This observance commemorates the same date in 1819, when the SS Savannah began the first steamship, transatlantic voyage from the port of Savannah, Georgia.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby urge the people of the United States to honor our American Merchant Marine on May 22, 1981, by displaying the flag of the United States at their homes and other suitable places, and I request that all ships under the American flag dress ship on that day.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifth.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:54 a.m., April 23, 1981]