Proclamation 5332—Mother's Day, 1985

For most of this century, we have set aside the second Sunday in May as a special day when we honor our mothers. It is very appropriate that we do so because from the earliest days of our country, mothers have played a major role in building America into a great Nation. The fortitude, courage, and love of family and country shown by these brave pioneer women lives on in mothers today.

It is especially important that we honor mothers today, because we are more aware than ever before of the importance of the family unit, in which mothers play so central a role. Families are truly the foundation of society, and mothers the vital foundation of the life of the family. Their influence on the training and education of our youth is so deep and pervasive that it is impossible to measure.

When we honor mothers, therefore, we honor the women who shape our Nation's future. Their collective effect on the America our children will inherit is greater than that of any act of Congress or any Presidential decision. I am happy, therefore, to have this chance once a year to pay them tribute.

In recognition of the contributions of all mothers to their families and to the Nation, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 8, 1914 (38 Stat. 770), has designated the second Sunday in May each year as Mother's Day and requested the President to call for its appropriate observance.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby request that Sunday, May 12, 1985, be observed as Mother's Day. I direct government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Federal government buildings, and I urge all citizens to display the flag at their homes and other suitable places on that day.

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

RONALD REAGAN