Remarks at the Seventh Annual Federal Woman's Award Ceremony

Mrs. Louchheim, award winners:

I am very proud this morning to open the doors of the people's house to some of its most distinguished servants. Your presence here is proof that America is finally beginning to use the full range of all of its talent.

What you have done, and what you will do for your country, has inspired not just an awards ceremony, but the gratitude of your fellow citizens as well as the admiration and thanks of your President.

As I look over your impressive list of achievements, I know that you represent only a fraction of the womanpower that should be doing meaningful work in government, in the schools and private industry, and in a thousand other useful occupations,

So, even as I thank you for this public service, I appeal to you for help in making that fraction much larger.

The example of your public lives is an inspiration to other women, but many women must be helped to see how and where they may begin their own productive careers.

Today there is an entirely new environment awaiting a woman who seeks useful work. The law now upholds her right to equal opportunity.

We have finally offered her a partnership in progress.

Since 1964 we have added 4 million women to the total working force in this country. They represent 7 out of 10 of the workers that we have added since 1964.

At the same time, unemployment among adult men has fallen from 4.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

So women are not taking the male breadwinners' jobs away from them, as those figures will indicate.

The need and the opportunity for trained women doers is very clear throughout the land.

The pay differential between professional men and women also is narrowing daily.

According to the latest estimates, the number of women employed by the Government at salary levels above $11,000 has increased by 50 percent since 1962.

The Nation's biggest employer, Federal, State, and local government, provides the broadest range of opportunities for women.

With your help it can attain the highest degree of excellence.

There are countless other avenues of public service outside the Government. A woman does not need a professional career to serve her community or her country in many significant ways, as we observe every day.

Communities everywhere need women who will speak for justice where there is injustice, who will demand attention to the people's needs, who will break the silence of complacency and conformity.

The challenge of public responsibility cannot obscure the woman's role as homemaker or wife or mother. Her expanding horizons can make that role even more fulfilling. They can add depth and understanding to her role in family life.

These awards are symbols of our trust, our admiration, and our gratitude for all that American women have done for our country, in the homes and in the offices, in public service, and particularly in personal caring.

So as you ladies here this morning return to your tasks, I hope that you will take with you a greater dedication to the public service that you have so nobly already served, and to the women of America whose very justified and brilliant representatives you have demonstrated yourselves to be.

We are so glad to have you and we are so proud of your achievements.