[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 69 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E935]]
      PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF THE WOMEN AND GIRLS OF AFGHANISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 24, 2002

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, as our operations continue and we begin 
to help rebuild Afghanistan, it is important to stress the needs and 
rights of women and young girls in that nation. Women and young girls 
in Afghanistan have been suffering incredible abuses ever since the 
extremist Taliban regime seized control of the country. Although the 
Taliban have now been removed from control in Afghanistan, it is deeply 
disturbing to me that women and girls continue to be abducted, raped, 
and abused within the country. The denial of employment and education 
rights for most women and girls is equally troubling and we must 
improve these conditions if equality is to exist between men and women 
in Afghanistan.
  H.R. 3994, the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act, provides the kind of 
assistance and aid that Afghanistan needs to develop into an 
economically stable and democratic nation. Equally important is the 
fact that it seeks to reestablish the participation of women and girls 
in government, education, and the workplace, as well as provides 
support for the Ministry of Women's Affairs. This is a very important 
step in ensuring that the women and young girls of Afghanistan are 
full, active participants in the building of a new Afghani government. 
A true democratic government represents all the people of its nation, 
regardless of race, religion, or gender. The Taliban treated women and 
girls like second class citizens who were forced to live their lives 
through the oppressive ideals of others, and this must never happen 
again.
  The persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan must come to an 
end. Afghanistan will improve its conditions quickly by allowing women 
and girls to receive an education, to be granted opportunities to gain 
employment, and to play a role in the governing process of the nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support of H.R. 3994, not only 
to help rebuild a nation but also to help protect the rights of women 
and girls of Afghanistan because it is time for their suffering to 
stop.

                          ____________________