[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 12523-12524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04645]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 12523]]


                Proclamation 10153 of March 1, 2021

                
Women's History Month, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year, Women's History Month offers an important 
                opportunity for us to shine a light on the 
                extraordinary legacy of trailblazing American women and 
                girls who have built, shaped, and improved upon our 
                Nation.

                Throughout American history, women and girls have made 
                vital contributions, often in the face of 
                discrimination and undue hardship. Courageous women 
                marched for and won the right to vote, campaigned 
                against injustice, shattered countless barriers, and 
                expanded the possibilities of American life. Our 
                history is also replete with examples of the unfailing 
                bravery and grit of women in America, particularly in 
                times of crisis and emergency. Women served our Nation 
                during World War II, led organizing and litigation 
                efforts during the Civil Rights movement, and 
                represented the United States on the global stage in 
                the fight for human rights, peace, and security. Far 
                too often, their heroic efforts and their stories have 
                gone untold--especially the millions of Black women, 
                immigrant women, and others from diverse communities 
                who have strengthened America across every generation.

                In our current moment of crisis, women continue to 
                lead. From vaccine researchers to public health 
                officials to the countless heroines on the frontlines, 
                women are working around the clock to defeat COVID-19. 
                Women, and particularly women of color, also make up 
                the majority of America's essential workers, including 
                educators and child care providers, grocery store 
                workers, farmworkers, and others who are keeping our 
                families, our communities, and our country afloat. This 
                year has also marked an historic milestone of women's 
                leadership 232 years in the making, with the 
                inauguration of America's first woman Vice President.

                As we celebrate the contributions and progress of women 
                and girls, we must also reflect on the extraordinary 
                and unequal burdens they continue to bear today. The 
                COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated barriers that have 
                held back women--particularly women of color--for 
                generations. Gender and racial disparities in pay 
                continue to fester. A disproportionate share of 
                caregiving continues to fall on the shoulders of women 
                and girls. And now, job losses due to COVID-19 have set 
                women's labor force participation back to its lowest 
                point in more than 30 years--threatening the security 
                and well-being of women and their families and 
                imperiling the economic progress of our entire Nation. 
                The share of mothers who have left the labor force is 
                three times that of fathers; in September 2020 alone, 
                an astonishing 865,000 women dropped out of the 
                American workforce. These trends are even more dire 
                among women of color, with Black and Hispanic women 
                facing disproportionately high rates of unemployment. 
                At the same time, food insecurity has risen 
                dramatically since the pandemic began, particularly in 
                female-headed households with children, as have reports 
                of intimate partner violence.

                Since taking office on January 20th, Vice President 
                Kamala Harris and I have made COVID-19 vaccination, 
                relief, and broad-based economic recovery efforts a top 
                priority. Our goal is not to return our economy to 
                where it was before the pandemic struck. Our goal is to 
                build back better--and

[[Page 12524]]

                that means creating a strong and durable foundation for 
                the economic opportunity and security of women in 
                America. Our plans include proposals to provide 
                individual payments and tax credits to put money in the 
                hands of families in need; increase housing and food 
                assistance as well as unemployment insurance; lower 
                health costs and expand access to coverage; increase 
                support for and access to child care; and expand 
                existing paid leave policies. We are also committed to 
                making further progress on what, for me, has been a 
                lifelong cause: reducing gender-based violence, and 
                advancing the safety, economic stability, and well-
                being of survivors.

                Sixty years ago, when former First Lady Eleanor 
                Roosevelt confronted President John F. Kennedy about 
                the lack of women in Government, he appointed her as 
                head of a new commission to address the status of women 
                in America and take on discrimination in all of its 
                forms. We have made significant progress in the United 
                States, thanks to the persistence and tireless work of 
                countless women. I am proud that the White House Gender 
                Policy Council will build on those efforts by putting a 
                laser focus on the needs and contributions of women and 
                girls, and ensuring a Government-wide focus on gender 
                equity. Our Administration is also committed to 
                ensuring that women are well-represented at all levels 
                in the executive branch: already, we have selected a 
                record number of women who represent the diversity of 
                America to serve in Cabinet-level positions.

                During Women's History Month, let us honor the 
                accomplished and visionary women who have helped build 
                our country, including those whose contributions have 
                not been adequately recognized and celebrated. And let 
                us pay tribute to the trailblazers from the recent and 
                distant past for daring to envision a future for which 
                no past precedent existed, and for building a Nation of 
                endless possibilities for all of its women and girls.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2021 as 
                Women's History Month. I call upon all Americans to 
                observe this month and to celebrate International 
                Women's Day on March 8, 2021, with appropriate 
                programs, ceremonies, and activities. I also invite all 
                Americans to visit www.WomensHistoryMonth.gov to learn 
                more about the vital contribution of women to our 
                Nation's history.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-04645
Filed 3-3-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P