[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 35 (Monday, September 2, 2002)]
[Pages 1432-1433]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7584--Women's Equality Day, 2002

 August 23, 2002

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Today, American women enjoy unprecedented opportunities in business, 
education, politics, and countless other aspects of our society. 
Historically, however, women suffered grave inequalities and were denied 
some of the most fundamental benefits of citizenship.
    Each year on August 26th, we mark the important anniversary of the 
day on which women gained the right to vote. In celebrating Women's 
Equality Day, we remember the brave and determined individuals who 
worked to ensure that all women have the opportunity to participate in 
our democracy. Their dedication to the suffrage movement improved our 
society, and continues to inspire women today.
    When the first Women's Rights Convention was convened in Seneca 
Falls in 1848, women in the United States had limited financial, legal, 
and political power. In addition to being denied the right to vote, they 
also could not own property, control their wages, or claim custody of 
their children.
    Courageous heroes like Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, Elizabeth 
Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony refused to accept women's status, and 
began a determined struggle to gain suffrage for women. Leading active 
and vocal groups like the National American Woman Suffrage Association 
and the National Woman's Party, these women risked attack and arrest to 
organize marches, boycotts, and pickets, while mobilizing an influential 
lobbying force of millions. Finally, on August 26, 1920, the women's 
suffrage movement accomplished its goal through the ratification of the 
19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to 
vote.
    In Afghanistan, the Taliban used violence and fear to deny Afghan 
women access to education, health care, mobility, and the right to vote. 
Our coalition has liberated Afghanistan and restored fundamental human 
rights and freedoms to Afghan women, and all the people of Afghanistan. 
Young girls in Afghanistan are able to attend schools for the first 
time.
    As we celebrate this day, I encourage all Americans to learn about 
our important achievements in equality. Looking to the future, we must 
remain diligent as we work to ensure the rights of all of our citizens, 
and to support those who struggle daily for life's basic liberties.

[[Page 1433]]

    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, 2002, 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-third 
day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
seventh.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., August 27, 
2002]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on August 24, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
August 28.