00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 19                                                                                    
01 Designating the month of March as Women's History Month and urging all                                                  
02 Alaskans to join in the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8,                                            
03 2000.                                                                                                                   
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
05  WHEREAS women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made significant                                      
06 contributions to the founding and building of the United States; and                                                    
07  WHEREAS women have played a crucial role in the formation of the economic,                                           
08 cultural, and social fabric of our society through their work both inside and outside the home;                         
09 and                                                                                                                     
10  WHEREAS American women have played an integral role in every movement in the                                         
11 United States involving social change, including the suffrage movement, the equal rights                                
12 movement, the fight for emancipation, the struggle to organize labor unions, the civil rights                           
13 movement, and the peace movement, which has created a fairer and more just society for all                              
14 citizens; and                                                                                                           

01  WHEREAS the achievements of women who have gone before will enable the men                                           
02 and women of today to positively affect tomorrow's history by working to end physical and                               
03 sexual violence, discrimination and harassment in employment, and the relegation to poverty                             
04 status of many women, and by advocating for the full economic and political participation of                            
05 women, the provision of adequate child care, respect for those who choose homemaking and                                
06 motherhood as their careers, and equal access to all of the opportunities this great nation has                         
07 to offer; and                                                                                                           
08  WHEREAS the story of the women's rights movement is a valued part of the heritage                                    
09 of the United States and Alaska, a story of gallantry and devotion to the belief that the                               
10 opportunity for complete human dignity should be granted to all citizens; and                                           
11  WHEREAS women have tirelessly, yet joyfully, been the bearers of life and nurturers                                  
12 of our children, the homemakers and uncompensated attendants to aches, pains, and tears, our                            
13 greatest fans for every step forward we have taken, and above all, an essential component of                            
14 the family unit, supplying strength, diligence, courage, and everlasting support; and                                   
15  WHEREAS women's history month will provide an opportunity for communities of                                         
16 women in Alaska and the United States, and for students in particular, to benefit from an                               
17 awareness of all these varied contributions; and                                                                        
18  WHEREAS International Women's Day was originally proclaimed in 1910 to                                               
19 recognize and commemorate the valuable contributions of women in the labor movement to                                  
20 improving working conditions, and thus bettering people's lives; and                                                    
21  WHEREAS Women's History Month will be a call not only to acknowledge the                                             
22 outstanding American women whose names we know, but also to pay homage to the many                                      
23 women who have anonymously shaped our collective past; and                                                              
24  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature honors the contributions of women;                                            
25  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature, with great pride, designates the                                   
26 month of March 2000 as Women's History Month; and be it                                                                 
27  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the Governor to                                          
28 issue a proclamation calling on the people of the state to observe the month with appropriate                           
29 programs, ceremonies, and activities; and be it                                                                         
30  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges all Alaskans to join                                        
31 in the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, 2000.