[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 14433-14434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05296]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 6, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 14433]]


                Proclamation 8935 of February 28, 2013

                
Women's History Month, 2013

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For more than two centuries, our Nation has grown under 
                the simple creed that each of us is created equal. It 
                is a notion that makes America unlike any other place 
                on earth--a country where no matter where you come from 
                or what you look like, you can go as far as your 
                talents will take you.

                Women's History Month is a time to remember those who 
                fought to make that freedom as real for our daughters 
                as for our sons. Written out of the promise of the 
                franchise, they were women who reached up to close the 
                gap between what America was and what it could be. They 
                were driven by a faith that our Union could extend true 
                equality to every citizen willing to claim it. Year 
                after year, visionary women met and marched and 
                mobilized to prove what should have been self-evident. 
                They grew a meeting at Seneca Falls into a movement 
                that touched every community and took on our highest 
                institutions. And after decades of slow, steady, 
                extraordinary progress, women have written equal 
                opportunity into the law again and again, giving 
                generations of girls a future worthy of their 
                potential.

                That legacy of change is all around us. Women are 
                nearly half of our Nation's workforce and more than 
                half of our college graduates. But even now, too many 
                women feel the weight of discrimination on their 
                shoulders. They face a pay gap at work, or higher 
                premiums for health insurance, or inadequate options 
                for family leave. These issues affect all of us, and 
                failing to address them holds our country back.

                That is why my Administration has made the needs of 
                women and girls a priority since day one--from signing 
                the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to helping ensure 
                women are represented among tomorrow's top scientists 
                and engineers. It is why we secured stronger 
                protections and more preventive services for women 
                under the Affordable Care Act. It is why we have fought 
                for greater workplace flexibility, access to capital 
                and training for women-owned businesses, and equal pay 
                for equal work. And it is why we have taken action to 
                reduce violence against women at home and abroad, and 
                to empower women around the world with full political 
                and economic opportunity.

                Meeting those challenges will not be easy. But our 
                history shows that when we couple grit and ingenuity 
                with our basic beliefs, there is no barrier we cannot 
                overcome. We can stay true to our founding creed that 
                in America, all things should be possible for all 
                people. That spirit is what called our mothers and 
                grandmothers to fight for a world where no wall or 
                ceiling could keep their daughters from their dreams. 
                And today, as we take on the defining issues of our 
                time, America looks to the next generation of movers 
                and marchers to lead the way.

                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 March 2013 as Women's 
                History Month. I call upon all Americans to observe 
                this month and to celebrate International Women's Day 
                on March 8, 2013, with appropriate programs, 
                ceremonies, and activities. I also invite all Americans 
                to

[[Page 14434]]

                visit www.WomensHistoryMonth.gov to learn more about 
                the generations of women who have shaped our history.

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

[FR Doc. 2013-05296
Filed 3-5-13; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F3