Access db problem trying to retieve date

Basically I am trying to access all entries from a database that equal
the current system date.

I am using an ASP page accessing an ACCESS DB. I am not getting any
errors but the database is not retrieving anything. However, when I do
a SELECT * FROM Events i get everything.

My code is:

SQL_query = "SELECT * FROM Event WHERE eventDate= 8/24/2006"

or

SQL_query = "SELECT * FROM Event WHERE eventDate= " & date

I tried both strings. The one was used to see if the code would work
if it was hard coded.

I was wondering if I am doing anything wrong. Please help me.