[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 263 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 263

 To express the sense of the Senate condemning the cruel and tortuous 
                 practice of female genital mutilation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 21 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

Mr. Reid submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 To express the sense of the Senate condemning the cruel and tortuous 
                 practice of female genital mutilation.

Whereas the Senate recognizes the importance of traditions and ritual rites of 
        passage in the cultures of all nations;
Whereas such traditions and rites should not impede or violate the human rights 
        of any person;
Whereas the practice of female genital mutilation of girls and young women under 
        the age of 18 represents an act of cruelty and a basic violation of a 
        person's human rights;
Whereas the aftereffects of female genital mutilation include shock, infection, 
        psychological scarring, hemorrhaging, and death;
Whereas the practice of female genital mutilation represents a threat to the 
        health of girls and young women who undergo the procedure; and
Whereas the Government of Egypt should be commended for the recent arrest and 
        detention of 2 men who performed circumcision on a 10-year-old girl 
        while she was bound and arranged for the filming of the tortuous 
        procedure for the Cable News Network: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the practice of 
female genital mutilation of girls and young women under the age of 18 
by any nation or individual is condemned, and that the Government of 
Egypt and that all other governments that aggressively and 
appropriately decry, prevent, and deter this practice through education 
and other means be, and they hereby are, commended by the United States 
Senate.
                                 <all>