[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 10 (Monday, March 11, 2002)]
[Pages 369-370]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7530--Women's History Month, 2002

March 6, 2002

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Women's History Month provides our country the privilege of honoring 
the countless contributions that American women have made throughout our 
history. These contributions have enriched our culture, strengthened our 
Nation, and furthered the Founders' vision for a free and just Republic 
that provides opportunity and safety at home and is an influence for 
peace around the world.
    Since its beginnings, our land has been blessed by noteworthy women 
who played defining roles in shaping our Nation. Sakajawea was a Native 
American woman who befriended the explorers, Meriwether Lewis and 
William Clark, 150 years ago as they crossed the great Northwest. She 
helped Lewis and Clark's expedition complete the first successful 
overland transcontinental journey. Lucretia Mott courageously wrote and 
spoke against slavery and the lack of equal rights for women, helping 
America recognize the inherent wrong in the institutional subjugation of 
others and the need to strive for equality, freedom, and justice for 
all. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America awarded a 
medical degree, and she dedicated her pioneering efforts as a physician 
to helping others.
    Helen Keller overcame debilitating physical disabilities, showing us 
the power of a determined human spirit. And Clara Barton developed a 
vision for helping others through her service to the wounded during the 
Civil War; and she realized that vision by founding the American Red 
Cross after the war, an organization that has since become renowned for 
its effectiveness in helping those who suffer or are in need. Recently, 
the Red Cross reached out to aid Afghan women traumatized by the 
repressive rule of the intolerant Taliban regime, which for years had 
mercilessly oppressed Afghanistan and Afghan women in particular. Today, 
thousands of American women are furthering the cause of freedom through 
service in government, the military, and other organizations, as we seek 
to defeat terrorism and bring justice to those responsible for the 
September 11 attacks.
    The history of American women is an expansive story of outstanding 
individuals who sacrificed much and worked hard in pursuit of a better 
world, where peace, dignity, and opportunity can reign. The spirit of 
loving determination that shaped these pursuits continues to serve as an 
example to those who seek to better our Nation. American women of 
strength, vision, and character have long influenced our country by 
contributing their time, efforts, and wisdom in vastly diverse ways to 
improve and enhance our government and communities, our schools and 
religious institutions, our businesses and the military, and the arts 
and sciences. Women also have fundamentally shaped our civilization in 
the care and nurturing of families. Today, women in contemporary America 
are furthering the Founders' vision by working to advance freedom, 
increase equality, and administer justice in every corner of our land, 
through their everyday work in schoolrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms, 
homes, and communities.
    As President, I am proud to recognize the many contributions 
American women have made to help make our Nation free, strong, and a 
force for peace and justice around the world. On this observance of 
Women's History Month, I encourage every American to learn more about 
these important contributions, and to celebrate their noble legacies as 
we work to build a brighter future for our Nation and for all of the 
world's people.
    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 March 2002 as Women's 
History Month. I call upon all the people of the United States to 
observe this

[[Page 370]]

month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of 
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, 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., March 7, 
2002]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
8.