VIII Publication of Data by Sex and Race_-_. Priority for Training in Household Employment_-_ EQUALIZATION OF POLICY-MAKING RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FED- OCTOBER 1, 1969. The White House The President today announced the establishment of the Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities, with Miss Virginia R. Allan, former President of the National Federation of Business & Professional Women's Clubs as the Chairman. The task force will review the present status of women in our society and recommend what might be done in the future to further advance their opportunities. The members of the Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities are: Office of Women's It Is Recommended That the President Establish an Office of Women's Rights and Responsibilities, Whose Director Would Also Serve as a Special Assistant Reporting Directly to the President. The goal of equality for women is tied to that of a better world for all. The Task Force strongly urges that this objective be given the visibility and priority of entrusting it to an official at the President's right hand. There has been no individual or office at a sufficiently high level to assume effective overall responsibility for Federal legislative and executive action in the area of equal rights and responsibilities for women, or to set an example for State and local governments. Establishment of this office in the White House with an adequate staff would offer concrete evidence that the President of the United States is committed to the urgent need for action and is assuming leadership. The Director of the Office of Women's Rights and Responsibilities would coordinate recruitment and urge consideration of qualified women for policy-level Federal positions. She would seek new ways to utilize the female sector for the national benefit and to engage women in the hard tasks, challenges, decisions, and experiences through which capabilities are stretched and leadership is developed. As the President's representative she would seek to inform leaders of business, labor, education, religion, State and local governments, and the communications media on the nature and scope of the problem of sex discrimination, striving to enlist their support in working toward improvement. 2 She would chair the interdepartmental committee comprised of top level representatives of those departments and agencies with programs and functions significantly affecting women's rights and responsibilities. The Interdepartmental Committee would review and coordinate Federal programs for the purpose of assessing their impact on women and girls and would recommend policies and programs to Federal agencies and to the President. It would oversee implementation of the President's program for equal opportunity in the Federal service. She would serve as executive secretary of the advisory council on women's rights and responsibilities, which serves as a link and a clearinghouse between government and interested private groups. The Council should be comprised of men and women broadly representative of business, labor, education, women's organizations (youth and adult), and State commissions on the status of women. The Task Force commends to this Office for early consideration a number of important problems, on which the task force did not make recommendations for lack of time or lack of jurisdiction. They are listed in Appendix A. White House Conference on It Is Recommended That the President Call a White House Conference on Women's Rights and Responsibilities in 1970, the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ratification of the Suffrage Amendment and Establishment of the Women's Bureau. Major objectives would be to bring together a representative group of the Nation's men and women to encourage American women to participate more fully in American life and leadership; to create an awareness of their responsibilities as citizens; ⚫ to examine present laws and mores that influence or determine the status of women; • to educate women on a positive course of action for achieving equal rights and responsibilities. The Director of the Office of Women's Rights and Responsibilities, with the advice of the Presidential Advisory Council referred to in Recommendation 1, would plan the structure and program of the conference. Topics for discussion would include among others: education (including continuing education), counseling, abortion, childhood education and care, women in politics, employment, legal discrimination, volunteer careers, the creative women, women in tomorrow's world, consumer protection, and women as catalysts for peace. A plan of this nature emphasizes positive action by the President and demonstrates a genuine awareness of the problems facing women. Coupled with corrective legislative action, it would be a deterrent to the radical liberation movements preaching revolution. |