[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 34 (Monday, August 27, 2001)]
[Pages 1218-1219]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7458--Women's Equality Day, 2001

August 24, 2001

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Women's Equality Day marks the anniversary of women's 
enfranchisement and a pivotal victory for women's rights. Our Nation 
recognized a woman's right to vote with the passage of the 19th 
Amendment in 1920, but the roots of the women's rights movement go back 
to at least 80 years earlier.
    In 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott at the World's 
Anti-Slavery Convention in London. They, along with the other women 
there, expected to join in the anti-slavery proceedings, but male 
delegates refused to allow them to participate. Thus rebuffed, Mott and 
Stanton began a journey that would lead to the 1848 Seneca Falls 
Convention. There, the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments called for 
women's equality, including the right to vote and to take part in our 
Nation's great moral debates.
    Nearly all women's rights advocates also fought for the abolition of 
slavery. One hundred and fifty years ago, anti-slavery suffragette 
Sojourner Truth gave a powerful address expounding on the strength of 
women. Her impassioned call for women to actively participate in social 
justice movements became a legendary link between abolition and 
suffrage. That same year, Susan B. Anthony met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 
and they later joined Harriet Tubman, Mary Ann Shad Cary, Lucy Stone, 
and other abolitionists to pursue the goal of women's suffrage. Many 
19th Century abolitionist suffragettes did not live to see the fruit of 
their work for women's enfranchisement, but their efforts led the way 
for women to fight for and win recognition of their rights as equal 
participants in our Republic.

[[Page 1219]]

    Tremendous advancements have been made in the fight for equality. 
But we must remain diligent in enforcing our Nation's laws. And we still 
have work to do in this area.
    Today, thousands of people, mainly women and children, are 
trafficked into the United States each year and forced to work in the 
sex industry, sweatshops, field labor, and domestic servitude. Beyond 
these vile acts, workplace discrimination and targeted violence continue 
to take place, despite their rejection by our communities and legal 
system.
    Our efforts to ensure women equal rights must include the protection 
of women from violence and equal access to justice. This is particularly 
vital for women who face geographic, cultural, and other barriers to 
social justice services. Women victimized by crime should receive 
equitable and compassionate care, including access to advocacy, 
emergency shelter, law enforcement protection, and legal aid. That is 
why my 2002 budget requests increased funding for Federal initiatives to 
combat violence against women and to continue the guarantees of basic 
civil rights and liberties for women.
    As we remember the well-known champions of women's equality, we also 
honor the millions of women whose private efforts and personal ideals 
continue to sustain and improve this land. On Women's Equality Day, I 
call upon all Americans to defend the freedoms gained by those who came 
before us and to continue to expand our shared vision of social justice 
and equality.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, 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, 2001, as 
Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the United States to 
observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth 
day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
sixth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., August 28, 
2001]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
August 29.