Presidential Documents

44529

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 162

Thursday, August 21, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 7017 of August 19, 1997

Women’s Equality Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Each year, on Women’s Equality Day, we reflect on how far we have traveled

on our journey to make America live up to the ideals of justice and equality

articulated so powerfully in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Few constitutional amendments have affected

that progress more profoundly than the 19th, which guarantees American

women the right to vote.

Looking back from today’s vantage point, where women hold positions of

authority and responsibility at almost every level of government, it is hard

to imagine that, for almost a century and a half, women were barred from

exercising the most fundamental right of every democracy. There are women

still living among us who can remember a time when they were prevented,

by law, from having a role in shaping the destiny of their country and

the impact of government on their own and their families’ lives. But thanks

to women and men of extraordinary courage and conviction, who waged

for years a determined campaign for women’s suffrage, the 19th Amendment

was ratified in August of 1920 and opened the door for generations of

American women to add their vision and voices to our national discourse.

This year, we mark another milestone in the life of our democracy: the

25th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX of the Education Amendments

of 1972. Title IX, building on the spirit of the 19th Amendment, prohibits

discrimination against women in education and sports programs. For a quarter-century, it has enabled American girls and women to make the most

of their abilities, to dream big dreams, and, more important, to achieve

those dreams. In large measure, because of the 19th Amendment and Title

IX, our Nation has reaped the rewards of women’s talents, accomplishments,

wisdom, and perspective. In every activity and profession, in the home

and outside—as astronauts and professional athletes, as teachers and university presidents, as farmers and firefighters, as caregivers, Cabinet members,

and Supreme Court Justices—women have made lasting contributions to

the quality of our lives and the strength of our democracy.

Today, as Americans engage in a serious and profoundly important dialogue

on the future of our multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural society, we do

well to remember that we are all immeasurably enriched when we choose

the path of inclusion and empowerment. Women’s Equality Day and the

anniversary of Title IX remind us that by demanding an equal opportunity

for every American, we ensure a brighter future for all Americans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 August 26, 1997, as

Women’s Equality Day. I call upon the citizens of our great Nation to

observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
44530 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 162 / Thursday, August 21, 1997 / Presidential Documents

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day

of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 97–22481

Filed 8–20–97; 11:16 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-second.

œ–