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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />PROCLAMATION <br />Women's Equality Day <br />WHEREAS, women have been leaders in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, <br />and have played an instrumental role in the foundation of the United States of America; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, historically the role and importance of women has been overlooked and otherwise not <br />granted the same gravity and respect as their male counterparts; and <br />WHEREAS, women have been denied equal access, opportunities and rights granted to their male <br />counterparts under the laws governing the United States resulting in discrimination and <br />inequitable treatment; and <br />WHEREAS, the 191' Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote was ratified <br />on August 18, 1920 and was effective on August 26, 1920; and <br />WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress first proclaimed "Women's Equality Day" on August 26, 1971 to <br />commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and to promote <br />the continuing efforts of women to achieve full rights and privileges, public or private, <br />legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and <br />WHEREAS, gender discrimination and inequity are persistent in wages and earnings where women in <br />North Carolina earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by men, earn 79 cents in the North <br />Carolina Triangle area, and nationally women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by <br />men; and <br />WHEREAS, women in the North Carolina Triangle with some college education or an associate's <br />degree earn less than men with only a high school education; and <br />WHEREAS, on January 29, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of <br />2009, the first bill that he signed into law to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the <br />Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and <br />WHEREAS, the residents of Orange County support the equitable treatment of women, their right to <br />equal access, and that opportunities for women should not be denied or abridged; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby proclaim August 26, <br />2014 as Women's Equality Day in Orange County and encourage residents and businesses to promote <br />the equitable treatment of women. <br />This the 17h day ofJune 2014. <br />Barry Jacobs, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />