[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 173 (Thursday, December 13, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S13225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF 
                              AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to Calendar No. 279, S. Con. Res. 86.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 86) expressing the 
     sense of Congress that women from all ethnic groups in 
     Afghanistan should participate in the economic and political 
     reconstruction of Afghanistan.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements relating thereto be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 86) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 86

       Whereas until 1996 women in Afghanistan enjoyed the right 
     to be educated, work, vote, and hold elective office;
       Whereas women served on the committee that drafted the 
     Constitution of Afghanistan in 1964;
       Whereas during the 1970s women were appointed to the Afghan 
     ministries of education, health, and law;
       Whereas in 1977 women comprised more than 15 percent of the 
     Loya Jirga, the Afghan national legislative assembly;
       Whereas during the war with the Soviet Union as many as 70 
     percent of the teachers, nurses, doctors, and small business 
     owners in Afghanistan were women;
       Whereas in 1996 the Taliban stripped the women of 
     Afghanistan of their most basic human and political rights;
       Whereas under Taliban rule women have become one of the 
     most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, accounting for 75 
     percent or more of all Afghan refugees;
       Whereas a study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights 
     and released in May 2001 indicates that more than 90 percent 
     of Afghan men and women believe that women should have the 
     right to receive an education, work, freely express 
     themselves, enjoy legal protections, and participate in the 
     government; and
       Whereas restoring the human and political rights that were 
     once enjoyed by Afghan women is essential to the long-term 
     stability of a reconstructed Afghanistan: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) a portion of the humanitarian assistance provided to 
     Afghanistan should be targeted to Afghan women and their 
     organizations;
       (2) Afghan women from all ethnic groups in Afghanistan 
     should be permitted to participate in the economic and 
     political reconstruction of Afghanistan; and
       (3) any constitution or legal structure of a reconstructed 
     Afghanistan should guarantee the human and political rights 
     of Afghan women.

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