Remarks to Recipients of the Federal Woman's Award

WE congratulate you.

The one thing I was going to say to Pat Hitt and to Anne Armstrong¹ is that this event allows us to make some, shall we say, claims that should be widely reported, and that is that the number of women in top positions in Government--that is, other than simply the positions that usually have been available to them--has quadrupled in the past 4 years.

¹ Patricia Reilly Hitt, Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for Community and Field Services, and chairman of the board of trustees of the Federal Woman's Award; and Anne L. Armstrong, Counselors to the President.

We think that is quite a record, and if we can, in the next 4 years, quadruple again, that would be by a factor of 16 over the period of 8 years.

Now, that is a very, very high goal. The problem we have here is not so much finding the jobs. Many times it is the problem of finding women who are willing to and who want to take the job, because the need for top personnel in the Government is always there for the top people.

So, we would hope that your awards will lead others to go out and do likewise, knowing that they can go to the top. And if you have any trouble going to the top and you feel that you are being discriminated against, you let me know. [Laughter] I am sure you will.