[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2591 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2591

To authorize the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development to provide assistance to 
support the rights of women and girls in developing countries, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2014

Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development to provide assistance to 
support the rights of women and girls in developing countries, 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 ``Girls Count Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the United States Census Bureau's 2014 
        international figures, 1 person in 8--or 12 percent of the 
        total population of the world--is a girl or young woman age 10 
        through 24.
            (2) The Census Bureau's data also asserts that young people 
        are the fastest growing segment of the population in developing 
        countries.
            (3) Even though most countries have birth registration 
        laws, every year 51,000,000 children under age 5 are not 
        registered at birth, most of whom are girls.
            (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth system is the 
        key to determining a child's citizenship, nationality, place of 
        birth, parentage, and age. Without such a system, a passport, 
        drivers license, or national identification card is extremely 
        difficult to obtain. The lack of such documentation prevents 
        girls and women from officially participating in and 
        benefitting from the formal economic, legal, and political 
        sectors in their countries.
            (5) Without the ability to gain employment and 
        identification necessary to officially participate in these 
        sectors, women and girls are confined to the home and remain 
        unpaid and often-invisible members of society.
            (6) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor needed for 
        poor families to survive: carrying water, harvesting crops, 
        tending livestock, caring for younger children, and doing 
        chores.
            (7) Accurate assessments of access to education, poverty 
        levels, and overall census activities are hampered by the lack 
        of official information on women and girls. Without this 
        rudimentary information, assessments of foreign assistance and 
        domestic social welfare programs cannot be accurately gauged.
            (8) To ensure that women and girls are fully integrated 
        into United States foreign assistance policies and programs, 
        that the specific needs of girls are, to the maximum extent 
        possible, addressed in the design, implementation, and 
        evaluation of development assistance programs, and that women 
        and girls have the power to effect the decisions that affect 
        their lives, all girls should be counted and have access to 
        birth certificates and other official documentation.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) encourage countries to uphold the Universal Declaration 
        of Human Rights and enact laws that ensure girls and boys of 
        all ages are full participants in society, including requiring 
        birth certifications and some type of national identity card to 
        ensure that all citizens, including girls, are counted;
            (2) enhance training and capacity-building in developing 
        countries, local nongovernmental organizations, and other civil 
        society organizations to effectively address the needs of birth 
        registries in countries where girls are undercounted;
            (3) include organizations representing children and 
        families in the design, implementation, and monitoring of 
        programs under this Act; and
            (4) incorporate into the design, implementation, and 
        evaluation of policies and programs at all levels an 
        understanding of the distinctive impact that such policies and 
        programs may have on girls.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNTING OF GIRLS IN THE 
              DEVELOPING WORLD.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary and the Administrator are 
authorized to--
            (1) support programs that will contribute to improved and 
        sustainable Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems 
        (CRVS) with a focus on birth registration as the first and most 
        important life event to be registered;
            (2) promote programs that build the capacity of developing 
        countries' national and local legal and policy frameworks to 
        prevent discrimination against girls;
            (3) support programs to help increase property rights, 
        social security, home ownership, land tenure security, and 
        inheritance rights for women; and
            (4) assist key ministries in the governments of developing 
        countries, including health, interior, youth, and education 
        ministries, to ensure that girls from poor households obtain 
        equitable access to social programs.
    (b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The Secretary 
and the Administrator shall coordinate with the World Bank, relevant 
United Nations agencies and programs, and other relevant organizations 
to urge and work with countries to enact, implement, and enforce laws 
that specifically collect data on girls and establish registration and 
identification laws to ensure girls are active participants in the 
social, economic, legal and political sectors of society in their 
countries.
    (c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society 
Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator should work with 
United States, international, and local private sector and civil 
society organizations to advocate for the registration and 
documentation of all girls and boys in developing countries to prevent 
exploitation, violence, and other abuses.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in all relevant 
congressionally mandated reports and documents the following 
information:
            (1) To the extent possible, United States foreign 
        assistance and development assistance beneficiaries by age, 
        gender, marital status, location, and school enrollment status 
        in all programs and sectors.
            (2) A description of how United States foreign assistance 
        and development assistance benefits girls.
            (3) Information on programs that address the particular 
        needs of girls.

SEC. 6. OFFSET.

    Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for United States 
foreign assistance programs of a Federal department or agency that 
administers such programs for a fiscal year, up to 5 percent of such 
amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act for 
such fiscal year.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Development assistance.--The term ``development 
        assistance'' means--
                    (A) assistance under--
                            (i) chapter 1 of part 1 of the Foreign 
                        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 
                        seq.);
                            (ii) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 
                        (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.);
                            (iii) the United States Leadership Against 
                        HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 
                        (22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.);
                            (iv) title V of the International Security 
                        and Development Cooperation Act of 1980 (22 
                        U.S.C. 290h et seq.; relating to the African 
                        Development Foundation); and
                            (v) section 401 of the Foreign Assistance 
                        Act of 1969 (22 U.S.C. 290f; relating to the 
                        Inter-American Foundation);
                    (B) official development assistance under any 
                provision of law; and
                    (C) reconstruction assistance under any provision 
                of law.
            (3) Foreign assistance.--The term ``foreign assistance'' 
        means any tangible or intangible item provided by the United 
        States Government to a foreign country or international 
        organization under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
        U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) or any other Act, including any training, 
        service, or technical advice, any item of real, personal, or 
        mixed property, any agricultural commodity, any gift, loan, 
        sale, credit, guarantee, or export subsidy, United States 
        dollars, and any currencies of any foreign country which are 
        owned by the United States Government.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of State.

SEC. 8. SUNSET.

    This Act shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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