[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

                                 ______


                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 8, 1994

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, a day 
set aside to focus attention on the plight and status of women in our 
country and around the world.
  Over the past years, women's issues have increasingly been recognized 
as the key to resolving many global problems, especially overpopulation 
and sustainable development. There has been a growing realization in 
this decade toward recognizing the key role of women, starting with the 
Rio Conference, which established the link between overpopulation and 
its environmental effects, and again last summer when the Vienna 
Conference on human rights was dominated by the discussion of women's 
human rights concerns, including illiteracy, genital mutilation, 
health, and education. The international focus on women will continue 
this fall during the Cairo Conference on population and development and 
will be carried over into the new year with the Beijing Conference on 
women next fall.
  As we observe this International Women's Day and prepare for future 
days, we must continue our work to empower women, focusing especially 
on women's literacy and enabling women to regulate their own fertility. 
Failure to do so will mean surrender to the environmental damage and 
economic and political consequences caused by poverty and 
overpopulation. If we are to build a sustainable global economy and 
environment for the future, we must act in this decade to protect and 
promote women's rights.

                          ____________________