Proclamation 3549—Child Health Day, 1963

Whereas it is our aim that each child and each youth in this Nation shall be afforded a meaningful opportunity to share in, and to add to, his rich heritage; and

Whereas that goal can be achieved only if there is an alert defense against disease and injury which assures that each child shall have a chance to grow and develop to his fullest capacity; and

Whereas the safeguarding of the emotional, physical, and spiritual strength of each boy and girl demands our most concentrated attention in this rapidly developing world; and

Whereas the observance of a special day emphasizing child health would serve to enlist effective public support for the accomplishment of the above-described objectives; and

Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution of May 18, 1928, 45 Stat. 617, as amended by a joint resolution of September 22, 1959, 73 Stat. 627 (36 U.S.C. 143), requested the President of the United States to issue annually a proclamation setting apart the first Monday in October as Child Health Day; and

Whereas Child Health Day is also an appropriate time to observe a Universal Children's Day, and to salute the work which the United Nations, through its specialized agencies, and the United Nations Children's Fund are doing to build better health for children around the world:

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Monday, October 7, 1963, as Child Health Day; and I invite all persons and all agencies and organizations, interested in the welfare of children to unite on that day in observances that will bolster our efforts to foster the health of our children

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this 27th day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-three and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-eighth.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

By the President:

DEAN RUSK,

Secretary of State