I also want to congratulate the BIG Choir for its rousing performance. And, Angelena, Carol and Tatjana for really sharing those remarkable stories makes me really proud to be a sister. (Applause.)

This is clearly a double-pin day. I was given one about breaking the glass ceiling. I kind of like that.

I want to thank all of you for the contributions and support you've given to our shared cause. As our program today illustrates, advancing the status of women and girls is a real team effort and, as I look around this auditorium, I can see that ours is clearly a winning team.

Five years ago at the UN Women's Conference in Beijing, 188 governments came together and agreed on a platform for action that was the single strongest statement of international support for women's rights ever made. And our challenge from that day to this has been to translate that platform into laws and policies and practices that improve the day-to-day lives of women and girls. And since 1997, I really have had the great honor of serving as the Chair of President Clinton's Interagency Council on Women, with the mandate to implement the platform for action in the United States.

With the active involvement and support of the President and the First Lady and the entire Cabinet, we have set about putting our ideals about equality and women's rights into practice. And this is an ongoing effort which we must continue long after we all leave government. But as Angelena and Carol and Tatjana have demonstrated, I think the accomplishments already have been so real.

America's Commitment, the summary document we are releasing today, highlights the US Government programs and policies designed to assure fair treatment for women and their families. In June, we are going to be presenting this document to the United Nations during a special session of the General Assembly. This session, meeting five years after the Beijing Conference, will review the progress made by each country in implementing the platform of action. And the United States has been a leader in this effort but, as leaders, we obviously can't stand still.

America's Commitment shows that we are moving ahead on all fronts. And I want to commend the hard work of the senior editorial coordinators from each agency and the President's Council members for making this publication possible. And I hope that all of you can stand so that we can thank you. (Applause.)

I also want to acknowledge Rose Kamp and the other regional coordinators who helped us to implement the platform for action at the local level and prepare for the UN special session. And I ask you to stand as well, so we can recognize your efforts. (Applause.)

And with the help and guidance of Theresa Loar and her team, each agency represented on the President's Council has worked so hard to fulfill the promises our government made in Beijing. And, as America's Commitment reflects, that hard work has paid off. Theresa, thank you so very much. (Applause.)

Under the leadership of Secretary Shalala, the Department of Health and Human Services has been a true champion of women's health. It has made new investments in the early detection and treatment of breast and cervical cancer, launched a national women's health clearinghouse and focused attention on the needs of women threatened by HIV/AIDS.

Attorney General Reno and the Justice Department have combined tough new federal laws with assistance to states and localities in law enforcement, victim assistance and crime prevention -- their goal to reduce violence against women. And we now have a nationwide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline which provides immediate crisis intervention. (Applause.) And it also provides counseling and referrals for those in need.

The Department of Labor, under Secretary Herman, has taken bold strides to improve opportunities for women in the workplace. It has encouraged employers across the country to provide equal pay for equal work, make it easier to balance the demands of work and family, and foster an environment of respect and opportunity for every employee regardless of gender.

The Treasury Department, led by Secretaries Rubin and Summers -- you don't have to be a woman to do this (laughter)-- has contributed by helping to provide credit enabling women to start their own small businesses. In 1999 alone, it awarded more than $100 million to spur such lending. And you just heard from Carol, who got her start-up capital through this initiative.

The Small Business Administration, under Aida Alvarez, has also helped many new entrepreneurs through its Women's Business Center Program. And I am told that the Business Center website now gets more than a million hits a month and is used by women from 100 countries around the world.

Finally, here in the State Department, we have placed efforts to advance the status of women and girls right where they belong: in the mainstream of American foreign policy. Today, our overseas programs -- (applause). In our overseas programs, we include many projects designed to expand the ability of women in developing countries to succeed economically, through legal reforms and access to education, credit and health care. And we are striving to help women bring down the barriers to political participation as advocates and voters, legislators and leaders. And, Tatjana, I really appreciate what you said about the importance of women in democracy.

These initiatives make sense and they are making a difference and they are the smart thing to do and they are the right thing to do. When women have the knowledge and the power to make their own decisions, whole societies benefit, for this is how the cycle of poverty is broken, birth rates are stabilized, and socially constructed values are most readily passed on to the young.

And this is one reason for our strong commitment to international family planning programs. Pregnancy-related complications are the leading cause of mortality among women of reproductive age in developing countries, killing an estimated 600,000 women a year. Experts believe that perhaps one in every four of these deaths could be prevented through access to family planning.

American diplomats at every level have bolstered these programs and policies. Our message to all is that, if you're fighting to advance the status of women and girls wherever you may be, you are not alone.

This message is crucial because we live in an age of networking, and the network supporting women's rights is growing stronger and broader every year. Evidence of this is provided by the Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative, which was launched with the First Lady's very strong leadership three years ago. Power comes from knowledge and, through Vital Voices, women from around the world, women such as Tatjana, are sharing knowledge about how to reform laws, win elections, grow businesses and shatter glass ceilings.

As the Vital Voices Initiative reflects, there is a growing awareness about the need to assure the protection of women's basic human rights, not only in law but also in policy and practice. And through concerted action before and after Beijing, we really have achieved an awful lot, but it clearly does remain an uphill fight everywhere.

In too many parts of the world, the habit of treating women as second class citizens is deeply ingrained. This habit can show itself through such actions as domestic abuse, honor crimes, genital mutilation, dowry murders and even the killing of baby girls. There are those who suggest these practices are cultural and there is nothing anyone can do about them. I say they are criminal and we all have a responsibility to stop them. (Applause.)

And that is why we persist in our effort to persuade the United States Senate that it is long past time for America to become party to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination. (Applause.)

And that is why we back so strongly the International War Crimes Tribunals because we believe the authors of ethnic cleansing should be held accountable and those who see rape as just another tactic of war must pay for their crimes. (Applause.)

And that's why, along with Glenda Bailey and the readers of Marie Claire, we are speaking up on behalf of the women and girls of Afghanistan. And thank you very much for those petitions. (Applause.)

And, finally, we have undertaken a major diplomatic and law enforcement effort to halt trafficking in women and girls. I recently returned from South Asia where I met with courageous women who were working very hard to achieve this goal, and they need and deserve our help. After all, if we believe in zero tolerance for those who sell illegal drugs, we should feel even more strongly about those who buy and sell human beings. (Applause.)

The women's movement has endured and prospered not because it's trendy but because of the underlying power of its central premise, which is that every individual counts. This basic idea of valuing each person fairly is what has united our movement across the boundaries of geography and ethnicity, vocation and generation. It is what gives us faith that the day will come when every girl everywhere will be able to look ahead with confidence that her life will be cherished, her individuality respected, her rights protected and her future determined, solely by her own ability and character.

This philosophy is not based on any illusions. Advocates of social progress have seen far too much of the hardship and frustration to indulge in sentimentalism. But we live in a nation and a world that has been enriched beyond measure by those who have overcome enormous obstacles to build platforms of knowledge and accomplishment from which others might advance.

Five years ago, in preparing for the Beijing conference, I came upon a poem that reflected an old folk tradition. In the poem, a father says to his young daughter, "We keep a dog to watch the house, a pig is useful too; we keep a cat to catch a mouse, but what can we do with a girl like you?" Angelena, Carol and Tatjana and millions of our sisters have answered that question in a way that cannot be denied. Through their accomplishments, they have demonstrated that, given the opportunity, there is nothing -- and I mean nothing -- we cannot do.

And today, our goal must be to see that opportunity exists for every girl and every woman everywhere. Now, this is a big job and a big commitment. But it is our commitment for America and for all those around the world who share our hope for a future more democratic, prosperous and just than the past.

And let me just say in closing, I would like to thank each and every one of you for what you have done to try to achieve this goal and I congratulate you for everything, and I thank you for your future efforts and I salute you and for all that we will continue to do together. Thank you very, very much. (Applause.)