Following is the transcript of Veneman's remarks:

Remarks by Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman
Opening Ceremony of Women's History Month
Washington, D.C.
March 5, 2002

"Thank you all very much. It's an honor to be with you today, to kick off USDA's observance for Women's History Month.

I'd like to give a special thank you to all the members on the planning committee, led by the Office of Civil Rights, Employment Compliance and Technical Assistance Division for your work in putting this together and I'd like you to stand and let's say thank you.

And I also want to welcome our keynote speaker, Shinae Chun, from the Women's Bureau at the Department of Labor -- a Department that is headed by another woman, my colleague and good friend Elaine Chao. It is truly an honor to serve with this cabinet particularly because we have some incredible women in this Cabinet.

The theme for this year's Women's History Month -- "Women Sustaining the American Spirit" is appropriate.

And it's timely.

Since the attack on America, women have come to the aid of their country -- as firefighters and medics in the streets of New York and Washington . . . as pilots over the skies of Afghanistan.

Our nation has sought comfort in these unsettling times. And they've found it . . . they've found it in the grace and dignity of our First Lady, Laura Bush.

Our nation has chosen to pursue freedom and justice around the globe, and that great undertaking is being led by true visionaries like Condoleeza Rice, whose life story is one of opening doors that previously had been closed to women.

And that is what we're trying to do for women of other nations, in this war on terrorism.

We're fighting for the world's freedom . . . and for the rights and the dignity of women.

Last December, in a ceremony over at the National Women's Museum in the Arts, I had the honor of being with the President as he signed into law the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act.

I was struck with the enormity of the moment, for it was a giant stride in helping the women of Afghanistan end what has been a long and terrible nightmare at the hands of the Taliban regime.

So much of what we've seen in Afghanistan has been the stark image of war.

But the reality is that before America went to war, Afghanistan already was at war in which approximately 10 million women had been attacked and besieged in a most inhumane manner.

It's a war no American would stand for -- not a country that's marched for civil rights, and suffrage.

Under the Taliban, Afghan women were
banned from speaking, or laughing out loud.

Afghan women were banned from attending school after the age of eight years old.

The women's university was shut down.

Afghan women were denied basic health care.

They were killed on suspicion of adultery.

As many as 50,000 women widowed during the long course of a civil war were forbidden from working.

They were reduced to selling their possessions and begging in the streets for themselves and their children.

A reporter on the ground in Afghanistan summed it up this way: "It is hard to find a woman in Kabul who does not remember a beating at the hands of the Taliban."

When someone asks you why we are at war in a remote corner of the world, remember these examples.

Yes, America was attacked -- a cowardly act that calls for justice.

And yes, we're fighting to assure that our children grow up in a safe and secure world - where terrorism is but a bad memory.

But we're also fighting to defend those values we hold so dear.

We're fighting to defend the rights of women and children everywhere.

And in one country, Afghanistan, we're fighting to ensure that women once again are a force for good in that nation's society.

Before the Taliban came to power, 70 percent of Afghanistan's teachers were women.

As was half of Afghanistan's civil service, and 40 percent of the doctors in their nation's capitol.

That's something maybe you and I take for granted as we go about our daily business, and walk the halls of this department, or visit our doctor for check-ups, or attend a parent-teacher conference.

In our society, women are invaluable contributors to our quality of life.

But in other lands, there is no contribution, and no quality of life.

We are going to change that in Afghanistan, where women no longer live under house arrest.

We're providing education and medical assistance to guarantee that young Afghan girls grow up to pursue their dreams.

And in doing so, we show the good that lies in America.

We're a nation, blessed by a people who are imaginative and determined.

And we will never cease in our efforts to bring about a world that is more just, more peaceful, and more prosperous for all -- men and women alike.

Thank you very much.