For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2001
Women's History Month, 2001
By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation
In 1845, journalist and author Margaret Fuller
laid out her hope for the future of this Nation's women: "We
would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would
have every path laid open to women as freely as to men. If
you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply -- any, I do not care
what case you put; let them be sea captains, if you will."
More than 150 years later, we are closer than
ever to realizing Margaret Fuller's dream. Women account for
nearly half of all workers. Today, women are "captains" of their own
destinies, and they will continue to help shape our Nation's
future. Women hold 74 seats in the United States Congress,
more than at any time in our country's history, and women own more than
9 million businesses employing more than 27.5 million
workers. Through their tireless service on a daily basis,
the women of our Nation have woven the fabric of families and
communities. They contribute immeasurably through
faith-based and community organizations.
Our Nation's women could not be where they are
-- nor could our country be where it is -- without the strength and
courage, wisdom and persistence of those who preceded
them. America has been blessed with women like Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, and Jane Addams, all of whom refused
to accept oppression as inevitable. Female political leaders
including Margaret Chase Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt forever changed
the face of American government. Women have played a vital
role in educating our Nation: Mary Lyon, Dorothea Dix,
Elizabeth Blackwell, and Mary McLeod Bethune all fought history and
stereotypes to become scholars in their own right and pass their
knowledge to subsequent generations. Similarly, female
authors such as Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Pearl Buck, and Zora
Neale Hurston represent only a small sample of the many women who have
contributed to the American literary canon.
Our Nation boasts a rich history of women
whose heroic achievements speak to the sense of excellence, potential,
and patriotism shared by all Americans. Anna Warner Bailey's
and Clara Barton's courage in war has inspired generations of men and
women called upon to fight for America. The fortitude of spirit
displayed by Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, and Wilma Rudolph has made
them role models both here and abroad. Finally, from the
sacrifice of mothers and grandmothers to the dedication of successful
women in business, government, and charitable work, the legacy of women
in America gives all young people in this country the impetus to dream
without limits.
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 2001 as "Women's History Month." I call upon
all the people of the United States to observe this month with
appropriate ceremonies and activities and to remember their
contributions throughout the year.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand
this first
day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-fifth.
GEORGE
W. BUSH
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