[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5548 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5548

  To authorize assistance for women and girls in Iraq, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2006

Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mrs. Davis of 
California, and Mrs. McCarthy) introduced the following bill; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize assistance for women and girls in Iraq, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Empowerment of Iraqi Women Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Saddam Hussein regime committed human rights 
        atrocities against the citizens of Iraq.
            (2) In the past, women in Iraq played important roles in 
        public and private industries, including the government.
            (3) Iraqi women currently are serving in the National 
        Assembly, government ministries, and local governments.
            (4) The reconstruction of Iraq and the writing of the 
        permanent Iraqi Constitution provide a unique opportunity to 
        continue this success and to affirm women's human rights under 
        law.
            (5) For women to fully participate in Iraqi society, they 
        must have the guaranteed right to vote, the guaranteed right to 
        run for office, guaranteed equality of opportunity, guaranteed 
        equality in family law, guaranteed equal access to the civil 
        courts, protection from gender-motivated violence, and 
        guaranteed access to health care, education, and employment.
            (6) The United States, through its involvement in Iraq, 
        must be actively working toward guaranteeing the full inclusion 
        and participation of Iraqi women in the political and economic 
        life of their country, and must continue to do so throughout 
        the reconstruction process.
            (7) The United States must be actively working to ensure 
        that the lives of Iraqi women are made better, not worse, 
        because of United States intervention.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF IRAQI WOMEN'S FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development shall establish a fund for the purpose of 
assisting women and girls in Iraq in the areas of political, legal, and 
human rights, health care, education, training, security, and shelter.
    (b) Activities Supported.--The fund established under subsection 
(a) shall support the following activities:
            (1) Direct financial and programmatic assistance to the 
        Iraq Ministry of Women's Affairs (hereafter in this section 
        referred to as the ``Ministry'') to promote the strengthening 
        of the Ministry as the Government of Iraq continues its 
        transition to a long-term government structure. The Ministry 
        may use such assistance to support activities such as the 
        following:
                    (A) Multiyear women-centered economic development 
                programs, including programs to assist widows, female 
                heads of household, women in rural areas, and disabled 
                women.
                    (B) Collaboration with the Iraq Ministry of Health 
                to construct health infrastructure and delivery of 
                high-quality comprehensive health care programs, 
                including primary, maternal, child, reproductive, and 
                mental health care.
                    (C) Programs to prevent trafficking in persons, 
                assist victims, and apprehend and prosecute traffickers 
                in persons.
                    (D) Programs to prevent gender-motivated violence 
                targeted at women, including domestic violence.
            (2) Collaboration with the Iraq Ministry of Education to 
        construct women's educational facilities in Iraq and promote 
        the education of Iraqi girls beyond primary school.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development shall prepare and submit to 
Congress a report that contains documentation of activities of the 
United States Agency for International Development, the Iraq Ministry 
of Women's Affairs, the Iraq Ministry of Health, and the Iraq Ministry 
of Education to implement the requirements of this section.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $22,500,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009 and such sums as are necessary for 
each subsequent fiscal year.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO IRAQ.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not less than 15 
percent of the aggregate amount of economic and humanitarian assistance 
authorized to be made available to Iraq for each of the fiscal years 
2007, 2008, and 2009 shall be made available for assistance directly to 
Iraqi-led local nongovernmental organizations, including not less than 
5 percent of that 15 percent for Iraqi women-led organizations, with 
demonstrated experience in delivering services to Iraqi women and 
children to support their programmatic activities and organizational 
development. In recognition of the appreciating capacity of Iraqi-led 
local nongovernmental organizations, including Iraqi women-led 
organizations, an appropriate percentage of the aggregate amount of 
economic and humanitarian assistance authorized to be made available to 
Iraq for fiscal year 2010 and each subsequent fiscal year shall be made 
available for assistance directly to Iraqi-led local nongovernmental 
organizations, including Iraqi women-led organizations.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO UNITED STATES ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ.

    (a) In General.--Activities described in subsections (b) through 
(d) that are carried out by the United States in Iraq shall comply with 
the applicable requirements contained in such subsections.
    (b) Governance of Iraq.--With respect to the governance of Iraq, 
the applicable requirements are the following:
            (1) Include the perspectives and advice of Iraqi women's 
        organizations, networks, and leaders in United States 
        policymaking related to the governance of Iraq.
            (2) Promote the achievement of 25 percent of the seats in 
        the National Assembly to be held by Iraqi women to ensure that 
        women's full range of human rights are included and upheld in 
        any constitution or legal structures of Iraq.
            (3) Encourage the appointment of women to high level 
        positions within Iraqi Ministries.
    (c) Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development.--With respect to 
activities relating to post-conflict stability in Iraq, the applicable 
requirements are the following:
            (1) Encourage United States organizations that receive 
        funds authorized by this Act to partner with or create Iraqi-
        led counterpart organizations and provide these organizations 
        with significant financial resources, technical assistance, and 
        capacity building.
            (2) Increase women's access to or ownership of productive 
        assets such as land, water, agricultural inputs, credit, and 
        property.
            (3) Provide long-term financial assistance for primary, 
        secondary, higher, nontraditional, and vocational education for 
        Iraqi girls, women, boys, and men.
            (4) Integrate education and training programs for former 
        combatants with economic development programs to encourage 
        their reintegration into society and to promote post-conflict 
        stability.
    (d) Iraqi Military and Police.--With respect to training for 
military and police forces in Iraq, the applicable requirements are the 
following:
            (1) Include training on the protection, rights, and the 
        particular needs of women and emphasize that violations of 
        women's rights are intolerable and should be prosecuted.
            (2) Encourage such trainers who will carry out the 
        activities in paragraph (1) to consult with women's 
        organizations in Iraq to ensure that training content and 
        materials are adequate, appropriate, and comprehensive.

SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the President shall prepare and transmit to 
Congress a report that contains documentation of activities of the 
United States to guarantee the rights of Iraqi women, including 
progress in implementing the requirements of section 5 and on the 
status of women's rights in Iraq. All data in the report shall be 
disaggregated by gender.
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