    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 10 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
    [Pages 275-276]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6975--Women's History Month, 1997

    March 3, 1997

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        Throughout the history of our Nation, women have played a pivotal
    role in bringing about positive change to every aspect of American life,
    and their achievements continue to touch the lives of every single
    citizen. Women's History Month honors the women who made these
    accomplishments possible, securing their rightful place in history among
    those who have made our country great. This month, we celebrate these
    women's lives--and renew our commitment to breaking down the gender
    barriers that still exist.
        Through their courage, foresight, and community spirit over the
    years, American women have created a world of opportunity for today's
    heroines and role models--women such as Secretary of State Madeleine
    Albright, the highest ranking woman to serve in any presidential
    administration; Dr. Shannon W. Lucid, who has performed five historic
    and complex Space Shuttle missions during 18 years with NASA and
    recently broke the American and women's world record for continuous time
    in space; Oseola McCarty, who in 1995 donated the life savings she had
    earned as a maid to fund scholarships at the University of Mississippi;
    and Julie Su, the young attorney who first came to prominence through
    her efforts to expose illegal exploitation of Thai immigrants in a
    California sweatshop and who continues to help immigrants to secure
    proper medical care, employment, and the dignity they deserve. The
    pioneers in women's history would be proud of today's women pioneers.
        As we approach the 21st century, we have reached another significant
    milestone in our Nation's history: Women have approached an almost equal
    share in the labor force. Thus, it is more important than ever that we
    enable women and men to meet their responsibilities at work and at home.
        Women continue to break the glass ceiling, changing their status
    from employee to employer. Today, women-owned businesses are creating
    one out of every four jobs in the United States. From the classroom to
    the board room, women now occupy every part of the work force, building
    the kinds of lives for themselves and their families that are the heart
    of the American Dream.
        Women's History Month provides Americans with an opportunity to
    celebrate the contributions of all the women who have enriched our
    Nation, to honor their legacy, and to reflect upon what we can all do to
    end discrimination against women. I encourage all Americans to learn
    from, and share information about, women's history in their workplaces,
    classrooms, and family rooms. As every family has its own heroes, so
    does our country. Only by studying the history of America's women can we
    fully understand the history of America.
        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 of America, do hereby
    proclaim March 1997, as Women's History Month. I ask educators,
    Government officials, and all citizens to observe this month with
    appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, remembering not only
    this month but also every month the many different contributions that
    women make every day.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of
    March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, 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, 8:45 a.m., March 4,
    1997]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March
    5.

    [[Page 276]]