[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1900-S1901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2392. A bill to promote the empowerment of women in Afghanistan; 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce legislation 
today--as we celebrate international Women's Day--to strengthen and 
empower the women and girls of Afghanistan.
  International Women's Day is an event celebrated world-wide to 
inspire women to achieve their full potential. But in so many places 
around the world, women continue to suffer from persecution and abuse, 
and many lack resources to become fully integrated

[[Page S1901]]

and equal members of society. Despite international intervention, 
Afghanistan is one such example. More than four years after the 
invasion of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban government, the 
women of Afghanistan still face significant hurdles as they seek to 
realize their full potential.
  The maternal death rate for Afghan women remains tragically high--
with an estimated 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births. The 
illiteracy rate for women continues to hover around 80 percent.
  And perhaps most troubling, the security situation for women is 
getting worse--threatening to slow or even reverse the gains that 
Afghan women have made over the past four years.
  Lieutenant General Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense 
Intelligence Agency, recently testified that violence by the Taliban 
and other insurgents in Afghanistan in 2005 increased by 20 percent 
2004 levels, specifically noting that the insurgency in Afghanistan 
``appears emboldened.''
  Women and girls have felt the impact particularly hard. In recent 
months, attacks against schools in Afghanistan that educate girls have 
increased substantially. According to media reports, teachers and 
principals are being threatened and killed--the headmaster at a coed 
school was even beheaded in January--and eight schools have been burned 
in the Kandahar province during the current school year alone.
  Just today, the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai admitted that 
Afghan women and girls have much to overcome. ``We have achieved 
successes in various dimensions during the past four years,'' Karzai 
said. ``But this journey has not ended . . . women especially are being 
oppressed, there are still women and young girls who are being married 
to settle disputes in Afghanistan, young girls are married against 
their will.''
  The legislation I am introducing today, the Afghan Women Empowerment 
Act of 2006, will provide resources where they are needed most in 
Afghanistan--to Afghan women-led nongovernmental organizations, 
empowering those who will continue to provide for the needs of the 
Afghan people long after the international community has left.
  The legislation will provide $30 million to these women-led NGOs to 
specifically focus on providing direct services to Afghan women such as 
adult literacy education, technical and vocational training, and health 
care services, including mental health treatment. It also provides 
assistance to especially vulnerable populations, including widows and 
orphans.
  In addition, the Afghan Women Empowerment Act authorizes the 
President to appropriate $5 million to the Afghan Ministry of Women's 
Affairs and $10 million to the Afghan Independent Human Rights 
Commission--two vitally important entities dedicated to advancing the 
cause of women and human rights within Afghanistan.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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