For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 6, 2002
Women's History Month Proclamation
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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