Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 93.djvu/1561

 PROCLAMATION 4675—AUG. 20, 1979

93 STAT. 1529

The ratification of the ERA may be the single most important step in assuring American women their full equality. Gaining ratification in the remaining states will not be easy—but it will mean our country can tap the full resources and abilities of all its citizens. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim August 26, 1979, as Women's Equality Day and do hereby urge all Americans to work to guarantee full equality for women before the 1982 deadline. I hope that, as a part of future celebrations for Women's Equality Day, we can celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth. JIMMY CARTER

Proclamation 4675 of August 20, 1979

Fifteenth Anniversary of the Signing of the Economic Opportunity Act By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation On August 20, 1964, our Nation embarked upon its most altruistic enterprise since the Marshall Plan. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law an Act "to mobilize the human and financial resources of the Nation to combat poverty in the United States." The ideal envisioned in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was a 42 USC 2701 Nation in which "every individual has the opportunity to contribute to the "^ote. full extent of his capabilities and to participate in the workings of our society." The proud litany of bold innovations which this legislation introduced into the Nation's vocabulary included Community Action, Head Start, Job Corps, Legal Services, VISTA, New Careers, Foster Grandparents, Upward Bound, Follow Through, Emergency Food and Medical Services, and Senior Opportunities and Services. The experimental concepts tested in these many programs have long since left the laboratory. Along the way, we have made some important discoveries—about poverty, about ourselves and about our country. We have learned from these programs that poverty is not an isolated problem that can be overcome without changes in the larger economy. We have learned that the poor of America are by no means alone in their deep-seated desire for institutional change; in their desire for government responsiveness at all levels; in their desire for opportunities for genuine participation as members of our society. We have discovered along the way that poor and non-poor alike long for a sense of community, a share in decision-making, a feeling that the individual can be heard—in the councils of government, in corporate meetings, and in the marketplace.

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