[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 126, 112th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8848--AUG. 24, 2012

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.
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


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of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA