Proclamation 5783

by Ronald Reagan

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

This April is a milestone in the history of civil rights. It marks the 20th anniversary of the passage of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, popularly called the "Fair Housing Act," which declared as a national policy that housing throughout our country be made available to all citizens on the basis of equality and fairness. The Act outlaws any discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The Fair Housing Act reflects Americans' willingness and determination to make sure that housing is available to all without discrimination. In the 2 decades since its passage, judicial and administrative enforcement and public and private efforts to induce voluntary compliance with the law have helped countless people obtain the housing they desire. America truly has succeeded in moving closer to the ideal of a society open to all.

Every American is entitled to freedom from discrimination in housing; the 20th anniversary of the Act is an appropriate time for all of us to reaffirm our dedication as a Nation to the principles of equal opportunity on which the Fair Housing Act is grounded.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-248, has designated April 1988 as "Fair Housing Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim April 1988 as Fair Housing Month.

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

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:52 a.m., March 30, 1988]