[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 52585-52586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21508]



[[Page 52583]]

Vol. 77

Wednesday,

No. 168

August 29, 2012

Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 8848--Women's Equality Day, 2012
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  Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 168 / Wednesday, August 29, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 52585]]

                Proclamation 8848 of August 24, 2012

                
Women's Equality Day, 2012

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On Women's Equality Day, we mark the anniversary of our 
                Constitution's 19th Amendment, which secured the right 
                to vote for America's women. The product of profound 
                struggle and fierce hope, the 19th Amendment reaffirmed 
                what we have always known: that America is a place 
                where anything is possible and where each of us is 
                entitled to the full pursuit of our own happiness. We 
                also know that the defiant, can-do spirit that moved 
                millions to seek suffrage is what runs through the 
                veins of American history. It remains the wellspring of 
                all our progress. And nearly a century after the battle 
                for women's franchise was won, a new generation of 
                young women stands ready to carry that spirit forward 
                and bring us closer to a world where there are no 
                limits on how big our children can dream or how high 
                they can reach.

                To keep our Nation moving ahead, all Americans--men and 
                women--must be able to help provide for their families 
                and contribute fully to our economy. That is why I have 
                made supporting the needs and aspirations of women and 
                girls a top priority for my Administration. From 
                signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law and 
                creating the White House Council on Women and Girls to 
                combatting sexual assault and promoting women's 
                economic and political empowerment at home and abroad, 
                we have worked to ensure women have the opportunities 
                they need and deserve at every stage of their lives. As 
                women around the world continue to fight for their seat 
                at the table, my Administration will keep their 
                interests at the core of our policy decisions--and we 
                will join them every step of the way.

                Today, women are nearly 50 percent of our workforce, 
                the majority of students in our colleges and graduate 
                schools, and a growing number of breadwinners in their 
                families. From business to medicine to our military, 
                women are leading the fields that were closed off to 
                them only decades ago. We owe that legacy of progress 
                to our mothers and aunts, grandmothers and great-
                grandmothers--women who proved not only that 
                opportunity and equality do not come without a fight, 
                but also that they are possible. Even with the gains we 
                have made, we still have work to do. As we mark this 
                92nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment, let us reflect 
                on how far we have come toward fully realizing the 
                basic freedoms enshrined in our founding documents, 
                rededicate ourselves to closing the gaps that remain, 
                and continue to widen the doors of opportunity for all 
                of our daughters and sons.

                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, 2012, as 
                Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the 
                United States to celebrate the achievements of women 
                and recommit to realizing gender equality in this 
                country.

[[Page 52586]]

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

[FR Doc. 2012-21508
Filed 8-28-12; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F2-P