[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 13641-13642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5670]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 13641]]


                Proclamation 7411 of March 1, 2001

                
Women's History Month, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In 1845, journalist and author Margaret Fuller laid out 
                her hope for the future of this Nation's women: ``We 
                would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We 
                would have every path laid open to women as freely as 
                to men. If you ask me what offices they may fill, I 
                reply--any, I do not care what case you put; let them 
                be sea captains, if you will.''

                More than 150 years later, we are closer than ever to 
                realizing Margaret Fuller's dream. Women account for 
                nearly half of all workers. Today, women are 
                ``captains'' of their own destinies, and they will 
                continue to help shape our Nation's future. Women hold 
                74 seats in the United States Congress, more than at 
                any time in our country's history, and women own more 
                than 9 million businesses employing more than 27.5 
                million workers. Through their tireless service on a 
                daily basis, the women of our Nation have woven the 
                fabric of families and communities. They contribute 
                immeasurably through faith-based and community 
                organizations.

                Our Nation's women could not be where they are--nor 
                could our country be where it is--without the strength 
                and courage, wisdom and persistence of those who 
                preceded them. America has been blessed with women like 
                Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, and Jane 
                Addams, all of whom refused to accept oppression as 
                inevitable. Female political leaders including Margaret 
                Chase Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt forever changed the 
                face of American government. Women have played a vital 
                role in educating our Nation: Mary Lyon, Dorothea Dix, 
                Elizabeth Blackwell, and Mary McLeod Bethune all fought 
                history and stereotypes to become scholars in their own 
                right and pass their knowledge to subsequent 
                generations. Similarly, female authors such as Anne 
                Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Pearl Buck, and Zora Neale 
                Hurston represent only a small sample of the many women 
                who have contributed to the American literary canon.

                Our Nation boasts a rich history of women whose heroic 
                achievements speak to the sense of excellence, 
                potential, and patriotism shared by all Americans. Anna 
                Warner Bailey's and Clara Barton's courage in war has 
                inspired generations of men and women called upon to 
                fight for America. The fortitude of spirit displayed by 
                Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, and Wilma Rudolph has 
                made them role models both here and abroad. Finally, 
                from the sacrifice of mothers and grandmothers to the 
                dedication of successful women in business, government, 
                and charitable work, the legacy of women in America 
                gives all young people in this country the impetus to 
                dream without limits.

                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 2001 as ``Women's 
                History Month.'' I call upon all the people of the 
                United States to observe this month with appropriate 
                ceremonies and activities and to remember their 
                contributions throughout the year.

[[Page 13642]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 01-5670
Filed 3-5-01; 11:47 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P