PROCLAMATION 6873—MAR. 22, 1996 110 STAT. 4511 tured our imaginations. Champions like Wilma Rudolph and Bonnie Blair have taken America to great heights in the international sports world. Today, women make up close to half of our Nation's labor force, and women-owned businesses are changing the face of the American and global economies. But barriers to equality remain. Despite the efforts of women like Esther Peterson, a leader in the effort to end genderbased salary differences, many women are still paid considerably less than their male counterparts. Often these women also struggle with the dual responsibilities of raising a family and meeting the demands of a full-time job. Last September, thousands of women from around the globe met to discuss these issues at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, and to develop a Platform for Action. The resulting document represents a powerful consensus on the need to advance women's status by improving access to education, health care, jobs, and credit. It describes the fundamental desire of all women to enjoy basic legal and human rights and to take part in political life. Only through our commitment to these principles can we forever end discrimination and injustice based on gender, promote women's full participation in all aspects of American life, and join people every- where who seek true equality. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 1996, as Women's History Month. I call upon Government officials, educators, and all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities; to remember year-round the many important contributions that women make to our country each day; and to learn and share information about women's history in homes, classrooms, and community centers across the Nation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twentieth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6873 of March 22, 1996 Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 1996 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation While Hellenic literature, art, architecture, and philosophy have profoundly influenced western civilization for over 2,000 years, democracy remains the most precious gift to our world from the Greeks of ancient times. This manner of government, placing authority directly into the hands of the people, has long fulfilled the needs and aspirations of freedom-loving nations around the world. Our founders chose
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