[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SMART SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2005

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, the United Nations High-
Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change released a report to 
correspond with International Women's Day 2005, which is today, March 
8, 2005.
  Since March is also Women's History Month, it is important to discuss 
the proven link between gender equality and global security and 
development. There is an important link here, but it is one that we 
seldom discuss.
  The UN's comprehensive report addresses the inter-connectedness of 
gender equality and the threats that most affect our world: 
International security, extreme poverty, environmental degradation and 
diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
  Because women constitute a greater proportion than men of the world's 
poorest people, women stand to gain the most from the alleviation of 
extreme poverty. And because women around the world experience higher 
illiteracy rates than men, they also stand to gain more from education 
programs, particularly in the world's poorest countries where 
opportunities to receive quality instruction are extremely scarce.
  The link between poverty and illiteracy and global insecurity is 
clear. The bipartisan 9/11 Commission that addressed the terrorist 
attacks of September 11, 2001 acknowledged that poverty, illiteracy and 
despair do not cause terrorism, but they do breed conditions in which 
terrorism is created.
  That is why any attempt to address international security must 
include a discussion about high poverty and illiteracy rates. And 
because women are burdened disproportionately by poverty and 
illiteracy, any attempt to address those plights must begin by 
addressing the excessive degree to which women are affected.
  Even in America, women who work full-time year-round earn only 76 
cents for every $1 that their male counterparts earn. And every day, in 
nearly every country in the world, women are beaten, raped and killed. 
This crisis of violence against women has reached the most dire 
magnitude in countries like Sudan and Congo and Angola, where rape and 
brutality towards women is used as a political tool and an act of war.
  The international trafficking of women and girls is also a huge 
problem. Trafficking, the process by which women are sold into sexual 
slavery, is particularly rampant in Africa and in Southeast Asia.
  For those who do not believe there to be an issue of concern for the 
United States, think again. The trafficking of women reinforces the 
vicious cycle that continually prevents women from earning a decent 
living wage, keeping them in slavery and keeping them from receiving 
the same quality of education as men. This in turn reinforces the root 
cause of global instability that often gives rise to terrorism.
  Fortunately, there is a way to address this crisis. It is called 
SMART security for the 21st century. SMART is a Sensible Multilateral 
American Response to Terrorism. SMART security addresses the security 
of women by urging educational opportunities for women and girls. 
Studies have proven that the more girls that are enrolled in schools in 
developing countries, the more the population of that country 
stabilizes. And the more stable the country, the more violence 
decreases. In fact, domestic violence lessens and crime levels decrease 
in line with educational opportunities.
  We must prevent future acts of the terrorism, and SMART security is a 
way to do it. Instead of trying to spread democracy through the barrel 
of a gun, like we have been in Iraq, let us spread it through books, by 
increasing educational opportunities for women and girls. Today, 
International Women's Day, let us make it a priority to ensure that 
women in the poorest countries receive the educational opportunities 
they need and deserve.
  Just as important, women need to be encouraged and allowed to 
participate in the political process in every country if we are to see 
a more secure world. And above all else, we must remember that if 
international security efforts fail to include women, then they are 
excluding more than half of the world's population. Let us include all 
of the world's population and let us secure our world for the 21st 
century.

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