[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 35 (Monday, August 30, 2004)]
[Pages 1693-1694]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7806--Women's Equality Day, 2004

 August 26, 2004

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    On Women's Equality Day, we recognize the hard work and perseverance 
of those who helped secure women's suffrage in the United States. With 
the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, 
American women gained one of the most cherished rights and fundamental 
responsibilities of citizenship: the right to vote.
    The struggle for women's suffrage in America dates back to the 
founding of our country. The movement began in earnest at the Seneca 
Falls Convention in 1848, when women drafted a Declaration of Sentiments 
proclaiming they had the same rights as men. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin 
of Montana became the first American woman elected to the United States 
House of Representatives, despite the fact that her fellow women would 
not be able to vote nationally for 4 more years. These women and many 
more like them worked to ensure that future generations of women could 
realize the promise of America.
    Today, American women are leaders in business, government, law, 
science, medicine, the arts, education, and many other fields. Women-
owned businesses account for nearly half of all privately held firms and 
are opening at twice the rate of male-owned businesses. Through vision, 
determination, and a strong work ethic, remarkable American women have 
broadened opportunities for themselves and women around the world.
    The full participation of women and the protection of their rights 
as citizens are essential for freedom and democracy to flourish. In 
Afghanistan, women helped draft their country's new constitution in 
January 2004, which guarantees free elections and full participation by 
women. These women are eager to exercise their rights and are 
registering to vote in great numbers; about 40 percent of those 
registered to vote in the October Afghan Presidential elections are 
women. In Iraq, women are members of the new interim

[[Page 1694]]

Iraqi government and the recently established National Council. They 
also participated in drafting the Transitional Administrative Law, which 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, or religion 
and requires that 25 percent of the new legislature be women. In the 
face of great challenges, Iraqi women are building a better nation for 
themselves and their families.
    As we look to the future, we celebrate the extraordinary 
accomplishments of women in America and throughout the world and renew 
our commitment to equality for all women, both at home and abroad.
     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, 2004, 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-sixth 
day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
ninth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:31 a.m., August 27, 
2004]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on August 
30.