Remarks on Signing Proclamation 4515 on Women's Equality Day, 1977

To Dean Virginia Allan and to others who are assembled here today, I'd like to -ay that I appreciate the chance to be part of this effort.

My wife is sorry that she cannot be here. She's at an international conference on mental health in Canada, making a speech there about the stigma of those who suffer from mental illness. She represents me there, as she does in so many other things.

My daughter-in-law, Judy Carter, is in California today working on the equal rights amendment in the Western States.

In an hour or two, I'll be having lunch with my daughter, Amy, and I'm sure she will bring up the subject as well. [Laughter]

During the modern day that we observe and in which we serve, it's not dangerous, politically or otherwise, to speak out for equality of opportunity. It's not a major sacrifice. We don't have to overcome fear of persecution or even incarceration.

Standing behind me is a woman, Ms. Hallinan, who in 1917 stood outside the gates of the White House when Woodrow Wilson was President, simply holding a sign in her hand that was photographed, saying, "How long will it be before women can have freedom?" She was convicted of a crime and jailed. Although we've come a long way since then, we still have a long way to go.

A recent survey by the Civil Rights Commission has shown that 3,000 governmental directives and laws have within them discriminatory concepts against women. Today, I've issued a directive prepared by the Justice Department to all heads of agencies and departments in the Federal Government, ordering them to take the personal responsibility to examine their own attitudes, policies, directives, laws, to root out those discriminatory practices that have so long been in existence.

We've not yet been successful in having the equal rights amendment ratified by enough States. I think we will succeed. In the process, however frustrating it has been, great achievements have already been realized. Inequities and discrimination against women have been revealed.

Many actions in local, State, and Federal governments have already been taken--I have to admit, in some cases, in order to block the passage of equal rights amendment but those actions have been taken to lessen discrimination.

And we've also seen that there has been a great educational process taking place in this country. Although we've lost the ERA vote in several States this year, those losses have been much narrower than had been the losses in the same States before. So progress has been made, even in States where we have not yet been successful.

In dozens of cases when I or my wife, Rosalynn, have talked directly and personally with State legislators, they have said, "I believe the equal rights amendment is right, I think it ought to pass, but this year I can't vote for it because of pressure from the working women in my district." I think there is a growing realization that those who have suffered most have quite often been women who have taken the least action in encouraging the passage of equal rights amendment because they've been so hard at work in their homes and in their jobs that they've not been educated or inspired, nor have they had the time to become involved. This is changing very rapidly because of the leadership of many of you assembled here today.

So my commitment is the same as yours. I believe that if we work together, we can succeed. And I believe that we are going to work together and, therefore, I believe that we will succeed.

I would now like to read and to sign a proclamation entitled "Women's Equality Day, 1977."

[At this point, the President read the text of the proclamation.]

In witness whereof, I have today set my hand [signing the proclamation], and we are now mutually pledged to carry out the purposes of this resolution.