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For Immediate Release

Office of the Press Secretary

March 6, 2002

**Women\'s History Month, 2002 by the President of the United States of
America a Proclamation**

Women\'s History Month provides our country the privilege of honoring
the countless contributions that American women have made throughout our
history. These contributions have enriched our culture, strengthened our
Nation, and furthered the Founders\' vision for a free and just Republic
that provides opportunity and safety at home and is an influence for
peace around the world.

Since its beginnings, our land has been blessed by noteworthy women who
played defining roles in shaping our Nation. Sakajawea was a Native
American woman who befriended the explorers, Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark, 150 years ago as they crossed the great Northwest. She
helped Lewis and Clark\'s expedition complete the first successful
overland transcontinental journey. Lucretia Mott courageously wrote and
spoke against slavery and the lack of equal rights for women, helping
America recognize the inherent wrong in the institutional subjugation of
others and the need to strive for equality, freedom, and justice for
all. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America awarded a
medical degree, and she dedicated her pioneering efforts as a physician
to helping others.

Helen Keller overcame debilitating physical disabilities, showing us the
power of a determined human spirit. And Clara Barton developed a vision
for helping others through her service to the wounded during the Civil
War; and she realized that vision by founding the American Red Cross
after the war, an organization that has since become renowned for its
effectiveness in helping those who suffer or are in need. Recently, the
Red Cross reached out to aid Afghan women traumatized by the repressive
rule of the intolerant Taliban regime, which for years had mercilessly
oppressed Afghanistan and Afghan women in particular. Today, thousands
of American women are furthering the cause of freedom through service in
government, the military, and other organizations, as we seek to defeat
terrorism and bring justice to those responsible for the September 11
attacks.

The history of American women is an expansive story of outstanding
individuals who sacrificed much and worked hard in pursuit of a better
world, where peace, dignity, and opportunity can reign. The spirit of
loving determination that shaped these pursuits continues to serve as an
example to those who seek to better our Nation. American women of
strength, vision, and character have long influenced our country by
contributing their time, efforts, and wisdom in vastly diverse ways to
improve and enhance our government and communities, our schools and
religious institutions, our businesses and the military, and the arts
and sciences. Women also have fundamentally shaped our civilization in
the care and nurturing of families. Today, women in contemporary America
are furthering the Founders\' vision by working to advance freedom,
increase equality, and administer justice in every corner of our land,
through their everyday work in schoolrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms,
homes, and communities.

As President, I am proud to recognize the many contributions American
women have made to help make our Nation free, strong, and a force for
peace and justice around the world. On this observance of Women\'s
History Month, I encourage every American to learn more about these
important contributions, and to celebrate their noble legacies as we
work to build a brighter future for our Nation and for all of the
world\'s people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2002 as Women\'s
History Month. I call upon all the people of the United States to
observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of March,
in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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