[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 82 (Tuesday, June 15, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6805-S6807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS OF INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mrs. Hutchison, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. 
        Snowe, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Dole, Ms. 
        Landrieu, Ms. Murkowski, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. 
        Stabenow, and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 2519. A bill to authorize assistance for education and health care 
for women and children in Iraq during the reconstruction of Iraq and 
thereafter, to authorize assistance for the enhancement of political 
participation, economic empowerment, civil society, and personal 
security for women in Iraq, to state the sense of Congress on the 
preservation and protection of the human rights of women and children 
in Iraq, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I am proud to join with my colleague 
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison--and the 12 other women of the United 
States Senate--to introduce the Iraqi Women's and Children's Liberation 
Act. This legislation authorizes the President to give education, 
health care benefits and other help to the women and children of Iraq, 
including ensuring the political participation of women in a new 
democratic Iraq.
  Before Saddam Hussein came to power, Iraq was the progressive center 
of the Middle East. In the 1940s, Iraqi women were lawyers, physicians, 
teachers, professors, engineers, scientists, prominent writers, artists 
and poets. By the late 1950's, women in Iraq enjoyed political freedoms 
with equal protections under the law and the right to vote.
  Under Saddam Hussein, all that changed. Women lost opportunities for 
education. They were forced out of the work force. Women and children 
did not have access to health care. The personal rights of women were 
severely restricted or ignored as Saddam's government sanctioned 
``honor killings'' and rape as a tool of oppression.
  The facts speak for themselves. Today, women make up only 17 percent 
of the Iraqi workforce. Only 29 percent of Iraqi girls attend high 
school. Illiteracy among Iraqi women is an astronomical 77 percent, 
compared to 45 percent for men. Death during childbirth or from 
pregnancy related complications is the leading cause of death of Iraqi 
women. Health organizations estimate that 90 percent of these deaths 
are preventable. Right now, 25 percent of the children under the age of 
5 in Iraq are malnourished and 1 in 8 dies even before they reach that 
age.
  As America works to help the Iraqi people build a free and democratic 
nation, it is vitally important that education and health care for 
women and children are assured. If we are helping create a new 
government, let us insist that there not be the old rules, the old 
repression.
  Of equal importance is ensuring that women have a seat at the table 
in a new Iraqi government. Full political participation by women is the 
best insurance that women's rights will be respected now and in the 
future.
  These are the two important components of our legislation: first, it 
authorizes the President to provide education and health care 
assistance for the women and children living in Iraq and to women and 
children of Iraq who are refugees in other countries. When our own 
government and the NGOs come in, they should focus significant efforts 
on making sure women and children have access to education and health 
care. They should also do their best to partner with and build the 
capacity of local NGOs to strengthen Iraq's civil society.
  Second, it authorizes the President to provide assistance enhancing 
the political participation, economic empowerment and personal security 
of Iraqi women. For Iraq to truly be liberated, its women must have a 
voice in the new political and governmental institutions.
  This legislation is really about opportunity-making sure the women 
and children in Iraq have the opportunity to live productive lives and 
fulfill their potential, and making sure Iraq has the opportunity to 
succeed as a democratic nation by tapping the talents of all its 
citizens. The road to opportunity starts with access to health care so 
children can thrive and women can raise healthy families. It continues 
with education to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to support 
that family and contribute to society as a whole. One of the most 
important ways to contribute to society is through political 
participation--whether that means voting, running for office, working 
in a government agency, or organizing for a cause or a community.

[[Page S6806]]

  While building the physical infrastructure in Iraq--things like 
roads, bridges, and power plants--is important, we also need to focus 
on the social infrastructure that protects women and children and 
builds hope and opportunity. That is the goal of this legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2519

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Iraqi Women and Children's 
     Liberation Act of 2004''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) For more than 600 years under the Ottoman Empire, women 
     in Iraq were kept inside their homes, repressed, and 
     forbidden to be seen in public without a related male escort.
       (2) The Sevres Treaty of 1919, following World War I, 
     installed a new monarchy in Iraq under which education for 
     boys and girls flourished.
       (3) Within a span of 20 years, 6 centuries of repression of 
     women in Iraq was reversed. Thousands of women in Iraq became 
     lawyers, physicians, educators, teachers, professors, 
     engineers, prominent writers, artists, and poets, 
     demonstrating the impact of progressive policies on the 
     ability of women in Iraq to achieve.
       (4) In 1941, women in Iraq earned equal wages for equal 
     jobs, an achievement still not duplicated in most parts of 
     the world.
       (5) On July 14, 1958, the monarchy in Iraq was overthrown 
     by General Abdul-Karim Kasim, who enfranchised women in Iraq 
     with political rights.
       (6) In 1959, Iraq became the first country in the Middle 
     East to have a female minister, four female judges, prominent 
     scientists, politicians, and freedom fighters.
       (7) The 1959 Code of Personal Status secularized the multi-
     ethnic state of Iraq. Women enjoyed political and economic 
     rights, successfully participating in the workforce as well 
     as advancing in the political sphere. Women had the right to 
     receive an education and work outside the home. Women were 
     career military officers, oil-project designers, and 
     construction supervisors, and had government jobs in 
     education, medicine, accounting, and general administration.
       (8) The Code of Personal Status also granted women 
     extensive legal protections. It gave women the right to vote 
     and granted equal status to men and women under the law. It 
     prohibited marriage by persons under the age of 18 years, 
     arbitrary divorce, and male favoritism in child custody and 
     property inheritance disputes.
       (9) The regime of Saddam Hussein regularly used rape and 
     sexual violation of women to control information and suppress 
     opposition in Iraq and tortured and killed female dissidents 
     and female relatives of male dissidents.
       (10) The Department of State has reported that more than 
     200 women in Iraq were beheaded by units of ``Fedayeen 
     Saddaam'', a paramilitary organization headed by Uday 
     Hussein.
       (11) After the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the regime of 
     Saddam Hussein imposed policies that resulted in severe 
     economic hardship, discrimination, impoverishment, and 
     oppression of women in Iraq. Many women were prevented from 
     working. Presently, women comprise as much as 65 percent of 
     the population of Iraq, but only 19 percent of the workforce.
       (12) Men who killed female relatives in ``honor killings'' 
     were protected from prosecution for murder under Article 111 
     of the Iraqi Penal Code enacted in 1990. The United Nations 
     Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women has reported 
     that since the enactment of that article, more than 4,000 
     women were killed for tarnishing the honor of their families, 
     with the killings occurring by a range of methods that 
     included stoning.
       (13) Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among 
     women of reproductive age in Iraq, and it continues to rise 
     due to lack of basic health care. The maternal mortality rate 
     in Iraq of 292 deaths per 100,000 live births compared with a 
     maternal mortality rate in the United States of 8 deaths per 
     100,000 live births. 90 percent of the maternal deaths in 
     Iraq are identified as preventable.
       (14) More than 48 percent of the population of Iraq is 
     under the age of 18 years. One in four children of the age of 
     5 years or younger is chronically malnourished. One in eight 
     children dies before the age of 5 years, the highest rate of 
     mortality among children under that age in the region. Some 
     estimate the total rate of child mortality in Iraq to be as 
     high as 13 percent.
       (15) Girls and women in Iraq have meager educational 
     opportunities relative to the opportunities available to men 
     and boys in Iraq, and twice as many boys as girls in Iraq 
     attend school. 29 percent of females attend secondary school 
     as compared with 47 percent of males. The illiteracy rate in 
     Iraq is the highest in the Arab world at 61 percent for the 
     general population, 77 percent for women, and 45 percent for 
     men.
       (16) Press accounts indicate that many women in Iraq are 
     being pressured to adhere to strict Islamic codes that 
     restrict their mobility and impinge on their human rights.
       (17) Security for women in Iraq is an issue of grave 
     concern. Women are afraid to leave their homes or to send 
     their daughters to school.
       (18) Women in leadership positions in Iraq are vulnerable 
     to attack. One of the three women on the Iraqi Governing 
     Council was assassinated, and another has a $2,000,000 bounty 
     on her head.
       (19) Women from the autonomous Kurdish region travel 
     freely, hold important jobs and political positions, and 
     perform a key role in the revival of the areas of Iraq that 
     have been under Kurdish control. The integration of women in 
     the economic and political spheres of the region provides a 
     contrast to the rest of Iraq and serves as an example of what 
     is possible in Iraq.
       (20) According to the 2003 Arab Human Development Report of 
     the United Nations, pervasive exclusion of women from the 
     political, economic, and social spheres hampers development 
     and growth in Arab countries.
       (21) Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, the Presidential Envoy to 
     Iraq, has voiced his support of women in Iraq in stating that 
     ``[w]e in the coalition are committed to continuing to 
     promote women's rights in Iraq.''
       (22) Women have participated in planning for Iraq's 
     political future in the following way:
       (A) 3 out of 25 people on the Iraqi Governing Council are 
     women.
       (B) One of the government ministries is led by a woman. 16 
     of the 25 deputy minister positions are held by women.
       (C) 15 of the 1,000 nationally-appointed judges are women.
       (23) Resolution 137 was adopted in a closed session 
     (sponsored by conservative Shiite members) on December 29, 
     2003, with the intent of reversing family law. The adoption 
     of that resolution threatened negative impacts on the rights 
     of women to education, employment, mobility, property 
     inheritance, divorce, and child custody.
       (24) Ambassador Bremer, who has veto power, stated that he 
     would not sign Resolution 137 into law.
       (25) The Iraqi Governing Council revoked Resolution 137 on 
     February 27, 2004, in part due to pressure from women's 
     groups. However some members of the Governing Council walked 
     out to protest this action.
       (26) The Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) that 
     establishes the framework for the interim government of Iraq 
     was officially signed on March 8, 2004. It aims to achieve a 
     goal of having women constitute not less than 25 percent of 
     the members of Iraq's interim legislature. It does not 
     express a goal for a representation rate for women in the 
     executive or judicial branch of the interim government. It 
     also provides that Sharia, the Islamic law, can be a source, 
     but not the only source, of Iraqi law.
       (27) United States officials propose to turn over political 
     power to Iraqis on June 30, 2004. Some factions have already 
     voiced strong objection to the TAL and could press ahead with 
     their goal of making Sharia the supreme law of Iraq.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States should ensure that women and children 
     in Iraq benefit from the liberation of Iraq from the regime 
     of Saddam Hussein;
       (2) women of all ethnic groups in Iraq should be included 
     in the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq;
       (3) women should be involved in the drafting and review of 
     the key legal instruments, especially the constitution, of 
     the emerging nation in Iraq in order to ensure that the 
     transition to that nation does not involve or facilitate the 
     erosion of the rights of women in Iraq;
       (4) women should have membership in any legislature or 
     other committee, body, or structure convened to advance the 
     reconstruction of Iraq that builds on the goal provided for 
     in the Transitional Administrative Law;
       (5) women should have a similar level of representation in 
     leadership posts in all levels of government in Iraq, 
     including ministers and judges, whether local or national, 
     and women should be integrated in all levels of political 
     process in Iraq, especially the building of political 
     parties;
       (6) the presence of women on the Iraqi Governing Council 
     should better represent the percentage of women in the 
     general population of Iraq;
       (7) the participation and contribution of women to the 
     economy of Iraq should be fostered by awarding contracts and 
     sub-contracts to women and women-led businesses and by 
     ensuring the availability of credit for women;
       (8) continued emphasis and support should be granted to 
     grass-roots organization and civil society building in Iraq, 
     with special emphasis on organizing, mobilizing, educating, 
     training, and building the capacities of women and ensuring 
     the incorporation of their voices in decision-making in Iraq;
       (9) the security needs of women in Iraq should be addressed 
     and special emphasis placed on recruiting and training women 
     for the police force in Iraq; and
       (10) the Government of Iraq should adhere to 
     internationally accepted standards on human rights and rights 
     of women and children.

[[Page S6807]]

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

       (a) Education and Health Care Assistance for Women and 
     Children.--The President is authorized to provide education 
     and health care assistance for the women and children living 
     in Iraq and to women and children of Iraq who are refugees in 
     other countries.
       (b) Enhancement of Political Participation, Economic 
     Empowerment, Civil Society, and Personal Security of Women.--
     The President is authorized to provide assistance for the 
     enhancement of political participation, economic empowerment, 
     civil society, and personal security of women in Iraq.
       (c) Sense of Congress on Provision of Authorized 
     Assistance.--It is the sense of Congress that the President 
     should ensure that assistance is provided under subsections 
     (a) and (b) in a manner that protects and promotes the human 
     rights of all people in Iraq, utilizing indigenous 
     institutions and nongovernmental organizations, especially 
     women's organizations, to the extent possible.
       (d) Sense of Congress on Promotion of Human Rights in 
     Provision of Assistance to Government of Iraq.--In providing 
     assistance to the government of Iraq, the President should 
     ensure that such assistance is conditioned on the government 
     of Iraq making continued progress toward internationally 
     accepted standards of human rights and the rights of women.
       (e) Reports.--Not later than six months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and every six months thereafter 
     during the three-year period beginning on such date, the 
     Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report that sets forth the 
     following:
       (1) A comprehensive description and assessment of the 
     conditions and status of women and children in Iraq as of the 
     date of the report, including a description of any changes in 
     such conditions and status during the six-month period ending 
     on such date.
       (2) A statement of the number of women and children of Iraq 
     who are in refugee camps throughout the Middle East as of the 
     date of such report, a description of their conditions as of 
     such date, and a description of any changes in such 
     conditions during the six-month period ending on such the 
     date.
       (3) A statement the expenditures of the United States 
     Government during the six-month period ending on the date of 
     such report to promote the education, health, security, human 
     rights, opportunities for employment, judicial and civil 
     society involvement and political participation of women in 
     Iraq.
       (f) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
     means--
       (1) the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Relations 
     of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committees Appropriations and International 
     Relations of the House of Representatives.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. CORZINE:
  S. 2522. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase 
the maximum amount of home loan guaranty available under the home loan 
guaranty program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation to 
increase the VA home loan guaranty so that veterans participating in 
the program may secure a mortgage comparable to what they could obtain 
in the conventional mortgage market.
  The VA home loan guaranty program, which Congress created in 1944, 
has assisted millions of veterans--many of whom missed the opportunity 
to accumulate savings or build credit during their time of service--
purchase a home. Under the program, an eligible veteran may purchase a 
home through a private lender and the VA guarantees to pay the lender a 
portion of the losses if the veteran defaults on the loan.
  Unfortunately, the VA currently only guarantees a maximum of $60,000 
on a loan. This means, effectively, that a lender will only loan four 
times the amount of the guaranty, or $240,000, to a veteran seeking a 
home loan.
  While a loan of this size is sufficient to assist many veterans in 
purchasing a home, it is insufficient for many other veterans, 
particularly those living in high cost areas, like my state of New 
Jersey. In most places in my State, the cost of purchasing a home 
exceeds $240,000. For example, the median home sale price is Newark, 
New Jersey in 2003, was $331,200. In Middlesex, Hunterdon, and 
Somerset, the median sales price in 2003, was $314,000.
  Thus, unfortunately for many veterans living in these high cost 
areas, the VA home loan program is inaccessible because the guaranty is 
so low.
  My legislation would increase the VA guaranty to 25 percent of the 
Freddie Mac conforming loan limit, or $83,425. With such an increase, a 
participating veteran could borrow up to $333,700--which is the 
conventional loan limit--towards the purchase of a home. And, because 
Freddie Mac updates its conforming loan limit annually to account for 
changes in average housing prices, pegging the VA home loan guaranty to 
this index would ensure that the guaranty and available mortgage limits 
rise with housing inflation.
  My legislation, which the House Veterans Affairs Committee recently 
approved, would ensure that more veterans have a chance at the American 
Dream of owning a home. What is more, my legislation would not cost the 
U.S. Treasury a cent. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget 
Office (CBO), it would raise approximately $42 million a year, through 
increased user fees associated with the VA home loan program.
  This legislation is simple, it's cost effective, and it would assist 
our veterans, who have traded years of traditional employment to serve 
our country, purchase a home. I hope that my colleagues will join me in 
supporting this important piece of legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2522

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF HOME LOAN GUARANTY 
                   FOR CONSTRUCTION AND PURCHASE OF HOMES AND 
                   ANNUAL INDEXING OF AMOUNT.

       (a) Maximum Loan Guaranty Based on 100 Percent of Freddie 
     Mac Conforming Loan Rate.--Section 3703(a)(1) of title 38, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``$60,000'' each 
     place it appears in subparagraphs (A)(i)(IV) and (B) and 
     inserting ``the maximum guaranty amount (as defined in 
     subparagraph (C))''.
       (b) Definition.--Such section is further amended by adding 
     at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(C) In this paragraph, the term `maximum guaranty amount' 
     means the dollar amount that is equal to 25 percent of the 
     Freddie Mac conforming loan limit limitation determined under 
     section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 
     Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1454(a)(2)) for a single-family 
     residence, as adjusted for the year involved.''.

                          ____________________