Proclamation 5964—National Drinking Water Week, 1989

All living things depend on water. As a Nation, we have been blessed with abundant quantities of fresh water to quench our thirst and to nourish our fields. Because it is so easy to turn on the tap and obtain gallons of fresh drinking water every day, many of us often take that great blessing for granted. However, behind each gallon, behind each drop, are the combined efforts of scientists, engineers, legislators, water plant operators, and regulatory officials. These individuals are responsible for keeping our precious drinking water available, affordable, and, above all, safe.

The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 provides a framework for preserving and improving our Nation's drinking water. This statute has been instrumental in eliminating the most acute public health problems -- such as outbreaks of cholera and typhoid -- casued by contaiminated drinking water. The 1986 Amendments to the Act call for new and more stringent standards to help guard against some of the less serious hazards that still threaten the Nation's tap water. In the coming years, these new standards will require changes in the design and operation of water treatment works in virtually every community in the United States -- changes that will strengthen the safeguards protecting America's drinking water.

Our Nation must continue to identify and respond to the hazards that potentially threaten its water supply. Protecting our drinking water at its source will require an ongoing effort on the part of consumers, scientists, and civic leaders alike.

In recognition of drinking water's importance, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 60, has designated May 1 through May 7, 1989, as "National Drinking Water Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1 through May 7, 1989, as National Drinking Water Week. I call upon the people of the United States and government officials to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, in order to enhance public awareness of the benefits of drinking water and the importance of keeping it safe.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, 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 thirteenth.

GEORGE BUSH