[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 8 (Thursday, February 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
THANKS TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT
(Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, the State Department is indeed under new
management. I mean, how often does a Member take the floor and thank
the State Department. But for the first time in the history of this
country, the State Department came out with its new human rights
survey, and women have been declared human.
That is incredible, that we had to wait until 1994 to finally have
that happen. But thank them, because for the first time in our human
rights survey, we look at the countries who have denied women their
rights, who have abused women, repressed women, and done all sorts of
things from allowing the selling of young women into slavery, bridge
burnings, genital mutilation of women, and denying them basic property
and family rights.
Now we must follow through. We, as American women who pay taxes
equally, are really horrified at the long record of neglect on this
issue. We salute how they have closed it this year, and now let us
follow through and put pressure on those countries to also recognize
women as human.
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