[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 31, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 53561-53562]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21904]



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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 8548--Women's Equality Day, 2010
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 168 / Tuesday, August 31, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 8548 of August 26, 2010

                
Women's Equality Day, 2010

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Ninety years ago, on August 26, 1920, the ratification 
                of the 19th Amendment to our Constitution was 
                completed, guaranteeing women the right to vote, 
                renewing our commitment to equality and justice, and 
                marking a turning point in our Nation's history. As we 
                celebrate this important milestone and the achievements 
                and shattered ceilings of the past, we also recognize 
                the inequalities that remain and our charge to overcome 
                them.

                In a letter to John Adams, who was then serving as a 
                delegate to the First Continental Congress, Abigail 
                Adams once implored her husband to ``remember the 
                ladies'' in the ``new code of laws'' of our fledgling 
                country. It has taken the collective efforts of daring 
                and tenacious women over many generations to realize 
                the principles and freedoms enshrined in our 
                Constitution. Standing on the shoulders of these 
                trailblazers, we pay tribute to the brave women who dot 
                the pages of our history books, and to those who have 
                quietly broken barriers in our workplaces, communities, 
                and society.

                We can see the remarkable fruits of past struggles and 
                victories today. For nearly two centuries, America 
                could only imagine a female justice sitting on the 
                Supreme Court of the United States. Today, for the 
                first time in our Nation's history, three women sit on 
                the bench of the highest court of the land, and I am 
                proud to be the first President to nominate two women 
                to the Court. Women lead in boardrooms and in our Armed 
                Forces, in classrooms and conference rooms, and in 
                every sector of society. Their boundless determination 
                has enabled today's young women to dream bigger as they 
                see themselves reflected at the highest levels of 
                business, communications, and public service--including 
                in my Administration and Cabinet. If we continue to 
                fight for our hopes and aspirations, there will be no 
                limit to the possibilities for our daughters and 
                granddaughters.

                As we celebrate 90 years of progress on Women's 
                Equality Day, we also recognize the realities of the 
                present. Women comprise less than one-fifth of our 
                Congress and account for a mere fraction of the chief 
                executives at the helm of our biggest companies. Women 
                hold only 27 percent of jobs in science and 
                engineering, which are critical to our economic growth 
                in a 21st-century economy. And, almost 50 years after 
                the Equal Pay Act was enacted, American women still 
                only earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. This gap 
                increases among minority women and those living with 
                disabilities.

                These disparities remind us that our work remains 
                unfinished. My Administration remains committed to 
                advancing women's equality in all areas of our society 
                and around the world. I was proud to create the White 
                House Council on Women and Girls to help ensure that 
                American women and girls are treated fairly in all 
                matters of public policy. I also appointed the first 
                White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, whose 
                leadership will guide my Administration in confronting 
                violence and sexual assault against women. The Lilly 
                Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill I signed as 
                President, restored basic protections against pay 
                discrimination for women, and to build upon that law, I 
                support passage of the Paycheck Fairness

[[Page 53562]]

                Act. I have also established the National Equal Pay 
                Enforcement Task Force to ensure equal pay laws are 
                vigorously enforced throughout the country. Workplace 
                flexibility is also important to women and families, 
                and we will continue coordinating with Federal agencies 
                to make quality child care more affordable, promote 
                work policies that improve work-family balance, and 
                advance the economic development and security of all 
                women.

                Fifteen years after the world gathered in Beijing for 
                the Fourth World Conference on Women, far too many 
                women around the world still lack access to basic 
                education and economic opportunity, face gender-based 
                violence, and cannot participate fully and equally in 
                their societies. To help address this, I appointed the 
                first-ever Ambassador at Large for Global Women's 
                Issues to elevate the importance of women's empowerment 
                in all aspects of our foreign policy. From Afghanistan 
                to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United 
                States will continue its commitment to the rights of 
                women around the world.

                Women's rights are ultimately human rights, and the 
                march for equality will not end until full parity and 
                equal opportunity are attained in every State and 
                workplace across our Nation. It remains our 
                responsibility to ensure that the principles of justice 
                and equality apply to all Americans, regardless of 
                gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, 
                disability, or socioeconomic status. If we stay true to 
                our founding ideals and the example of those who 
                insisted upon nothing less than full equality, we can 
                and will perpetuate the line of progress that runs 
                throughout our Nation's history for generations to 
                come.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2010, as 
                Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the 
                United States to celebrate the achievements of women 
                and recommit themselves to the goal of true gender 
                equality in this country.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2010-21904
Filed 8-30-10; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W0-P