Women's Equality Day, 2002

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Part II

The President

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Proclamation 7584--Women's Equality Day, 2002

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7584 of August 23, 2002

Women's Equality Day, 2002

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today, American women enjoy unprecedented opportunities
in business, education, politics, and countless other
aspects of our society. Historically, however, women
suffered grave inequalities and were denied some of the
most fundamental benefits of citizenship.

Each year on August 26th, we mark the important
anniversary of the day on which women gained the right
to vote. In celebrating Women's Equality Day, we
remember the brave and determined individuals who
worked to ensure that all women have the opportunity to
participate in our democracy. Their dedication to the
suffrage movement improved our society, and continues
to inspire women today.

When the first Women's Rights Convention was convened
in Seneca Falls in 1848, women in the United States had
limited financial, legal, and political power. In
addition to being denied the right to vote, they also
could not own property, control their wages, or claim
custody of their children.

Courageous heroes like Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony refused to
accept women's status, and began a determined struggle
to gain suffrage for women. Leading active and vocal
groups like the National American Woman Suffrage
Association and the National Woman's Party, these women
risked attack and arrest to organize marches, boycotts,
and pickets, while mobilizing an influential lobbying
force of millions. Finally, on August 26, 1920, the
women's suffrage movement accomplished its goal through
the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban used violence and fear to
deny Afghan women access to education, health care,
mobility, and the right to vote. Our coalition has
liberated Afghanistan and restored fundamental human
rights and freedoms to Afghan women, and all the people
of Afghanistan. Young girls in Afghanistan are able to
attend schools for the first time.

As we celebrate this day, I encourage all Americans to
learn about our important achievements in equality.
Looking to the future, we must remain diligent as we
work to ensure the rights of all of our citizens, and
to support those who struggle daily for life's basic
liberties.

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, 2002, 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-third day of August, in the year of our Lord two
thousand two, and of the

Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-seventh.

(Presidential Sig.)B