[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 33 (Monday, August 22, 1994)]
[Pages 1681-1682]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6715--Women's Equality Day, 1994

August 18, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Seventy-four years ago, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting 
women the right to vote after many years of painstaking struggle and 
hard work by courageous suffragists. Empowered by the efforts of the 
brave and pioneering women who came before them, women today have 
secured positions as leaders in industry, government, and academia. They 
serve as role models in every aspect of our society.
    The 19th Amendment did more than secure the right to vote for women. 
It recognized and affirmed the fundamental principle upon which this 
great Nation was founded--equality--``that all [persons] are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
Happiness.'' The ratification of the 19th Amendment was an important 
step toward ensuring that the civil and political rights guaranteed by 
the Constitution would truly be the equal rights of all Americans.
    By recognizing this previously disenfran- chised segment of our 
society, the 19th Amendment became one of the landmark civil rights laws 
in America, standing side by side with the Emancipation Proclamation, 
and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. This year also marks the 4th 
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 30th anniversary 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the 40th anniversary of 
Brown v. Board of Education. These laws and that pivotal decision, along 
with the 19th Amendment, have marked the history of our Nation's 
progress in guaranteeing that every member of our society is treated 
equally under the law.
    We observe ``Women's Equality Day'' to commemorate the ratification 
of the 19th Amendment almost three-quarters of a century ago. As we do 
so, we also honor the important contributions and achievements of women 
in this country, and we commit ourselves anew to fulfilling our 
obligation to promote equality for all Americans.
    The famous woman suffragist, Helen H. Gardener, advised the Congress 
in calling for passage of the 19th Amendment:
      Let us either stop our pretence before the nations of the earth of 
      being a republic and having ``equality before the law'' or else 
      let us become the republic we pretend to be.
    To further celebrate and commemorate the 19th Amendment this year, 
let us not take for granted our precious right to vote, and let us 
rededicate ourselves to removing the barriers that remain in women's 
paths.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, 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 August 
26, 1994, as Women's Equality Day. I call upon the citizens of our great 
Nation to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day 
of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
nineteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 5:12 p.m., August 19, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
August 23.

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