Proclamation 5225—Coast Guard Day, 1984

On August 4, 1790, the oldest continuous seagoing service of this Nation was formed. The United States Coast Guard was originally organized as "a fleet of cutters" to stop illegal smuggling from the sea and collect revenue due on goods coming to the young Nation. Later called the Revenue Cutter Service, this small organization combined with the Life Saving Service in 1915 and assumed its now famous name—the United States Coast Guard.

Today, Coast Guard contributions to our Nation in the areas of national defense, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, aids to navigation, merchant marine safety, environmental protection, ports and waterway safety, and boating safety have become a benchmark by which professional maritime excellence is judged.

This Nation relies heavily on the readiness of the Coast Guard's active duty, reserve, and civilian employees and the voluntary contribution of the 40,000 members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary to rescue victims, protect our environment, and defend this Nation, as the Coast Guard has done in every major conflict in which the United States has been involved.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 150, has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation designating August 4, 1984, as "Coast Guard Day."

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim August 4, 1984, as Coast Guard Day in recognition of the profound importance of the missions and responsibilities entrusted to the Coast Guard. I invite all the Armed Forces—the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard—the Departments of Defense and Transportation, other Federal departments and agencies, the Governors of the States, the chief officials of local governments, and the people of the United States to observe this day in an appropriate manner.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

RONALD REAGAN