Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 84 Part 2.djvu/912

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36 USC fegf.

PROCLAMATION 3998-AUG. 26, 1970

[84

STAT.

The careful work of early Spanish explorers, teachers, and agriculturalists built a solid and graceful foundation for progress in many parts of our country, and their legacy is one of gentility and art. The striking churches and homes they built long ago are monuments to their vision; the lovely Hispanic names they gave to the lands they explored and tilled are epitaphs of their taste. More recent generations have helped to give new dimensions and fresh vitality to our music, our literature, and our food, and have brought a particular warmth and openness to our spiritual values and to our style of living. I n recognition of these gifts to our national life, the Congress requested in 1968 that the President designate a week to include September 15 and 16 as National Hispanic Heritage Week. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning September 13, 1970, as National Hispanic Heritage Week. I call upon all Americans, particularly those in the field of education, to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and I hope that the week will encourage many Americans to extend a cordial welcome to the recently arrived immigrants and visitors among us who represent the rich heritage of Hispanic lands. I N W I T N E S S WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-fifth.

(yijJL^-^K:^^ Proclamation 3998 FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE August 26 1970

^Y ^^^ President of the United States of America A Proclamation

tiuf ^ ^'"^''*

Fifty years ago today, Bainbridge Colby, Secretary of State of the United States, certified that the 19th Amendment had become valid as a part of the Constitution. I t is hard for any of us living in 1970 to imagine a time when women did not vote. Yet for more than seventy-five years, American women faced adversity, ridicule and derision on every level of our society as they sought this precious right. Brave and courageous women, knowing their cause was just, drawing strength and inspiration from one another through generations, fought long and hard for Woman Suffrage. Their victory was a victory for civil rights in America and it marked the beginning of a proud, new chapter in our nation's history. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America do hereby call upon all Americans to recognize the great debt we owe to those who dedicated their life's work to the cause of Woman Suffrage. While we herald their great accomplishment, let us also recognize that women surely have a still wider role to play in the political, economic and social life of our country. And, in respect for American women, let all of us work to bring this about.

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