113 STAT. 2056 PROCLAMATION 7171—MAR. 1, 1999 must ensure that women have equal access to the education and opportunities they need to excel. We must guarantee that women receive equal pay in the workplace. We must promote policies and programs— including affordable, high-quality child care—that enable working women to succeed both on the job and in their homes. And we must work to ensure that women have the comfort of knowing they can retire in security. Women who have gone before us accomplished so much, often in the face of hardship and discrimination; we can only imagine what women will accomplish in the future if we break down the remaining barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 1999 as Women's History Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, and to remember throughout the year the many heroic women whose many and varied contributions have enriched our lives. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-third. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 7171 of March 1, 1999 Save Your Vision Week, 1999 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Vision is an extraordinary blessing—one that should be cherished and protected. Complex and remarkable organs, the eyes work in concert with the brain to produce vision, allowing us to experience the beauty and variety of the physical world around us. Because blindness and vision loss are often avoidable, the maintenance of good vision must be a top health priority and an integral part of every American's overall health care routine. Preventative eye care is particularly important because there are often no warning signs or pain associated with many eye diseases, and, by the time vision loss is identified, it is frequently too late to undo the damage. Periodic dilated pupil eye examinations can reveal the early signs of eye disease and buy precious time for treatment. It is equally important to protect our eyes from injury, another leading cause of vision loss. Each year, more than 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the United States. By using protective eyewear when working with machinery or chemicals, playing sports, or engaging in other recreational activities, we can help prevent irreparable loss of sight. Taking measures to prevent vision loss in ovu" children is especially important because their early development and academic achievement can suffer due to vision problems or diseases. Even before they begin
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