Women's Equality Day, 2004

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Part III

The President

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Proclamation 7806--Women's Equality Day, 2004

Executive Order 13352--Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7806 of August 26, 2004

Women's Equality Day, 2004

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On Women's Equality Day, we recognize the hard work and
perseverance of those who helped secure women's
suffrage in the United States. With the ratification of
the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920,
American women gained one of the most cherished rights
and fundamental responsibilities of citizenship: the
right to vote.

The struggle for women's suffrage in America dates back
to the founding of our country. The movement began in
earnest at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, when
women drafted a Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming
they had the same rights as men. In 1916, Jeannette
Rankin of Montana became the first American woman
elected to the United States House of Representatives,
despite the fact that her fellow women would not be
able to vote nationally for 4 more years. These women
and many more like them worked to ensure that future
generations of women could realize the promise of
America.

Today, American women are leaders in business,
government, law, science, medicine, the arts,
education, and many other fields. Women-owned
businesses account for nearly half of all privately
held firms and are opening at twice the rate of male-
owned businesses. Through vision, determination, and a
strong work ethic, remarkable American women have
broadened opportunities for themselves and women around
the world.

The full participation of women and the protection of
their rights as citizens are essential for freedom and
democracy to flourish. In Afghanistan, women helped
draft their country's new constitution in January 2004,
which guarantees free elections and full participation
by women. These women are eager to exercise their
rights and are registering to vote in great numbers;
about 40 percent of those registered to vote in the
October Afghan Presidential elections are women. In
Iraq, women are members of the new interim Iraqi
government and the recently established National
Council. They also participated in drafting the
Transitional Administrative Law, which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, or
religion and requires that 25 percent of the new
legislature be women. In the face of great challenges,
Iraqi women are building a better nation for themselves
and their families.

As we look to the future, we celebrate the
extraordinary accomplishments of women in America and
throughout the world and renew our commitment to
equality for all women, both at home and abroad.

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 August 26, 2004, as Women's
Equality Day. I call upon the people of the United
States to observe this day with appropriate programs
and activities.

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

(Presidential Sig.)B