[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 34 (Monday, August 24, 1998)]
[Pages 1645-1646]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7116--Women's Equality Day, 1998

August 20, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Since the earliest days of our democracy, Americans have taken great 
pride and found great purpose in our pursuit of equality. It is a right 
for which many have bravely struggled and the ideal that challenges us 
even today to build a more perfect union and to forge a future in which 
our children know no boundaries to their dreams. Each year, on Women's 
Equality Day, we rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of full equality 
for women and girls in our society.
    This year, as we reflect on the magnificent journey and the 
extraordinary heroines and heroes of the women's rights movement in 
America, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first women's rights 
convention, which took place in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 and set 
our Nation on a course toward equality. It was at this historic 
gathering that pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, 
Mary Ann McClintock, and Frederick Douglass signed the Declaration of 
Sentiments--a document unequivocally affirming that all men and women 
are created equal. Encouraged by the truth of their convictions, these 
determined women and men set out to make equality for women a reality in 
America.
    In the decades following the convention at Seneca Falls, many of the 
rights expressed in the prophetic Declaration of Sentiments became law. 
The ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution secured a 
woman's right to vote; the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
barred employment discrimination; and the enactment of Title IX of the 
Education Amendments of 1972 guaranteed equal opportunity in education 
and sports.
    This year, we recognize another milestone on the road to women's 
equality: the 35th anniversary of the enactment of the Equal Pay Act, 
which for the first time in our Nation's history guaranteed equal pay to 
women who perform the same jobs as men. Only a generation ago, a woman 
could legally be paid less for her time and talent solely because of her 
gender. Today, we realize that the denial of equal pay not only unfairly 
limits a woman's ability to provide for her family's economic security, 
but also diminishes her dignity by belittling the value of her labor.
    While we have made progress in closing this pay gap in the 35 years 
since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act, women today continue to make 
less than men for the same work--earning 76 cents for every dollar paid 
to a man. As we celebrate the Equal Pay Act's anniversary, we must 
reaffirm our commitment to making equal pay for equal work a reality in 
the workplace. My Administration supports new proposed legislation that 
will close the pay gap completely, strengthen enforcement of the Equal 
Pay Act, and toughen penalties for violations.
    My Administration is striving to ensure women's equality in other 
areas of our society. We have dramatically increased the funding for 
research, prevention, and treatment of diseases that predominantly 
affect women. Through the Family and Medical Leave Act that I signed and 
our proposed child care initiative, we are working to help women balance 
their responsibilities at home and on the job. During the past 5 years, 
the Small Business Administration has tripled loans to women-owned 
businesses, and we have strengthened enforcement of Title IX to ensure 
that education programs, activities, and institutions receiving Federal 
funds do not discriminate on the basis of gender.
    On Women's Equality Day, as we look back on what we have 
accomplished, we also recognize how far we have to go before we complete 
the journey that began so long ago. As women continue to distinguish 
themselves in boardrooms, classrooms, courtrooms, and family rooms 
across America, we must renew our efforts to empower all women with the 
rights and opportunities promised by our founders and fought for by the 
heroic women

[[Page 1646]]

and men whose achievements we honor today.
    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, 1998, 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 twentieth day 
of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:19 a.m., August 21, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on August 
24.