[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 162 (Wednesday, November 28, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AFGHAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN RELIEF ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 27, 2001

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of this important bill.
  Over the past few months, I have come to the House Floor to emphasize 
the suffering conditions Afghan women have been forced to endure over 
the past 5 years and have urged the world to recognize the need to 
restore the rights of all people in Afghanistan.
  Thanks to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and to the strong 
voices in the administration, the plight of Afghan women have been 
highlighted and addressed in the past weeks.
  We have all learned that under the oppressive Taliban regime:
  All schooling was forbidden to girls over the age of eight.
  The women's university was shut down.
  Women were restricted access to medical care.
  But with today's bill, we will reverse the tragedies suffered by so 
many. This bill, introduced and supported by women, ensures that women 
and children living in Afghanistan will receive the proper education 
and health care they desperately need and deserve.
  In addition to restoring these basic rights, it is essential that 
women be incorporated in any coalition that is assembled to run 
Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, many Afghans have been celebrating since the liberation 
of Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and other Afghan cities that were once under 
Taliban control. However, women are reluctant to join in the 
celebration as it is unclear how the Taliban's collapse may impact 
their lives. Women's involvement in reconstruction and peace 
negotiations is essential to rebuilding that country. It will be 
impossible for the United States to achieve its long term goals for 
Afghanistan without restoring the social, human, and political rights 
that have been taken from women. Women must be guaranteed that their 
human rights are included in the constitution or legal structure of a 
new government in Afghanistan. This is why Congresswoman Connie Morella 
and I have introduced H.R. 3342, the Access for Afghan Women Act.
  H.R. 3342, which I encourage my colleagues to cosponsor, proposes 
that aid from the United States will ensure that the economic, social, 
and political rights of women are recognized.
  After all, excluding more than half of the Afghan population from the 
reconstruction process jeopardizes the long-term stability of the 
region.
  We must ensure that Afghan women are included at each stage of the 
peace process and the creation of a new government of Afghanistan 
includes women--they are entitled to it.

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