[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 34 (Monday, August 26, 1996)]
[Pages 1482-1483]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6912--Women's Equality Day, 1996

August 21, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Since America's earliest days, our citizens have engaged in a 
passionate struggle to create a Nation where all can enjoy the benefits 
of democracy in equal measure. In 1920, we took a great step toward that 
noble goal by declaring that the right to vote could not be denied on 
the basis of gender. This 76th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th 
Amendment to the Constitution gives us an opportunity to celebrate the 
advances made in empowering women to fully participate in the

[[Page 1483]]

political, cultural, social, and economic life of our country.
    At long last we are seeing the fruits of our efforts to establish a 
society made strong by its vast diversity--a place where women not only 
make gains in traditionally male fields, but also use their talents and 
perspectives to enlarge the scope of public life. The extraordinary 
success of our female athletes at the Centennial Olympic Games in 
Atlanta is one stirring example of this progress. Historically excluded 
from so many arenas, today's women are carrying a shining torch of hope 
for younger generations to follow.
    Now the challenge is to keep the doors of opportunity open and to 
build on the changes begun by the ratification of the 19th Amendment. We 
must continue to encourage women to pursue elected office and to 
contribute to the civil discourse. Every American stands to gain when 
women and men of all backgrounds participate in the political process 
and exercise their right to vote. This is a right that we must never 
take for granted--and a responsibility we must never shirk--because it 
gives each of us a voice in our national debate and calls every citizen 
to join in the pursuit of our Nation's fundamental ideals.
    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, 1996, as Women's Equality Day. I call upon all Americans to reflect 
on both the struggles and accomplishments of all women and to promote 
the observance of this day with appropriate programs and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first 
day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:49 a.m., August 22, 
1996]

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