[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 9 (Monday, March 6, 2006)]
[Page 358]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7985--Women's History Month, 2006

February 27, 2006

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    For generations, women across our great land have helped make our 
country stronger and better. They have improved our communities and 
played a vital role in achieving justice and equal rights for all our 
citizens. During Women's History Month, we celebrate the many 
contributions women make to our society.
    At the end of the 19th century, pioneers Jane Addams and Ellen Starr 
opened the doors of Hull House to serve impoverished and immigrant 
families in the Chicago community. Presidential Medal of Freedom winner 
Annie Dodge Wauneka worked to educate her native Navajo community about 
preventing and treating disease. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up 
her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, helping to inspire a 
nationwide movement for equal justice under the law. Recently, our 
Nation said goodbye to another remarkable American woman and courageous 
civil rights leader, Coretta Scott King, who helped call America to its 
founding ideals.
    Today, the United States of America remains a country that offers 
the greatest freedom on Earth and believes in the promise of all 
individuals. Women continue to strengthen our Nation and the world by 
excelling as leaders in all walks of life, including business, law, 
politics, family life, education, community service, science, medicine, 
and the arts. The brave women who wear the uniform of the United States 
Armed Forces are helping to lay the foundations of peace and freedom for 
generations to come. This month, I encourage all Americans to join me in 
celebrating the extraordinary achievements and contributions of American 
women.
    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 2006 as Women's 
History Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with 
appropriate ceremonies and activities to honor the history, 
accomplishments, and contributions of all American women.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh 
day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
thirtieth.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:05 p.m., March 1, 
2006]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
2.