[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 148 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 148

           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2011

Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Fudge, Mrs. 
 Davis of California, Mr. Stark, Ms. Norton, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson 
 of Texas, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Carnahan, Mrs. Christensen, 
  Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Speier, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. 
   Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Moore, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of 
Florida, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Farr, Mr. Baca, Ms. 
DeLauro, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Moran, Ms. 
Bordallo, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. McDermott, Ms. Richardson, Mrs. 
Capps, Mr. Sires, Mr. Hinojosa, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
 Gutierrez, Mr. Israel, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Bass of California, 
  Ms. Sutton, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. 
 Yarmuth, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Murphy of Connecticut, and Mr. Deutch) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.

Whereas there are over 3,000,000,000 women in the world, representing 51 percent 
        of the world's population;
Whereas women continue to play the prominent role in caring for families within 
        the home as well as serving as economic earners;
Whereas women worldwide are participating in the world of diplomacy and 
        politics, contributing to the growth of economies, and improving the 
        quality of the lives of their families, communities, and nations;
Whereas women leaders have recently made significant strides, including the 2010 
        election of Dilma Rousseff as the first female President of Brazil, the 
        2009 election of Johanna Sigurdardottir as the first female Prime 
        Minister of Iceland, the 2007 election of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as 
        the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 
        the 2006 election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the President of Liberia, 
        the first female President in Africa's history, and the 2005 election of 
        Angela Merkel as the first female Chancellor of Germany, who also served 
        as the second woman to chair a G8 summit in 2007;
Whereas women account for 80 percent of the world's 70,000,000 micro-borrowers, 
        and 75 percent of the 28,000 United States loans supporting small 
        businesses in Afghanistan are given to women;
Whereas there are more than 200,000,000 women entrepreneurs worldwide and 15 
        women are chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies;
Whereas despite tremendous gains over the past 20 years, women still face 
        political and economic obstacles, struggle for basic rights, face the 
        threat of discrimination, and are targets of violence all over the 
        world;
Whereas worldwide, women remain vastly underrepresented in national and local 
        assemblies, accounting on average for less than 20 percent of the seats 
        in parliament;
Whereas women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the 
        world's food, yet earn just one-third of the world's income and own less 
        than 2 percent of the world's land;
Whereas women invest 80 percent of their incomes in their families and in their 
        communities;
Whereas 70 percent of the 1,300,000,000 people living in poverty around the 
        world are women and children;
Whereas two-thirds of the 876,000,000 illiterate individuals worldwide are 
        women, two-thirds of the 125,000,000 school-aged children who are not 
        attending school worldwide are girls, and girls are less likely to 
        complete school than boys according to the United States Agency for 
        International Development;
Whereas worldwide, women account for more than half of the more than 33,000,000 
        adults living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death 
        and disease among women of reproductive age;
Whereas globally, nearly 1,000 women die, everyday, from childbirth and 
        pregnancy related causes;
Whereas domestic violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women 
        between the ages of 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, 
        and war combined;
Whereas around the world, at least 1 out of every 3 women and girls has been 
        beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way in her lifetime;
Whereas worldwide, 140,000,000 girls and young women have been subjected to 
        female genital mutilation, and it is estimated that 3,000,000 girls are 
        at risk of being subjected to this practice;
Whereas illegal trafficking in women and children for forced labor, domestic 
        servitude, or sexual exploitation involves between 1,000,000 and 
        2,000,000 women and children each year, of whom 50,000 are transported 
        into the United States, according to the Congressional Research Service 
        and the Department of State;
Whereas 75 percent of the world's 43,000,000 forcibly displaced individuals are 
        women and children;
Whereas in times and places of conflict and war, women and girls continue to be 
        the focus of extreme violence and intimidation and face tremendous 
        obstacles to legal recourse and justice;
Whereas March 8 has become known as International Women's Day for the last 
        century, and is a day on which people, often divided by ethnicity, 
        language, culture, and income, come together to celebrate a common 
        struggle for women's equality, justice, and peace; and
Whereas the people of the United States should be encouraged to participate in 
        International Women's Day: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the goals of International Women's Day;
            (2) recognizes and honors the women in the United States 
        and in other countries who have fought and continue to struggle 
        for equality in the face of adversity;
            (3) reaffirms its commitment to ending discrimination and 
        violence against women and girls, to ensuring the safety and 
        welfare of women and girls, and to pursuing policies that 
        guarantee the basic human rights of women and girls both in the 
        United States and in other countries; and
            (4) encourages the President to--
                    (A) reaffirm his commitment to pursue policies to 
                protect fundamental human rights and civil liberties, 
                particularly those of women and girls; and
                    (B) issue a proclamation calling upon the people of 
                the United States to observe International Women's Day 
                with appropriate programs and activities.
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