[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 19, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8110-H8113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MALALA YOUSAFZAI SCHOLARSHIP ACT

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3583) to expand the number of scholarships available to Pakistani 
women under the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3583

       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 ``Malala Yousafzai Scholarship 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the 
     head by Pakistani Taliban on her way home from school.
       (2) In late 2008, Malala began writing a blog for BBC Urdu 
     under a pseudonym pressing the case for access to education 
     for women and girls despite objections from the Pakistani 
     Taliban.
       (3) Malala's advocacy for the education of women and girls 
     made her a target of the Taliban.
       (4) The Taliban called Malala's efforts to highlight the 
     need for education for women and girls an ``obscenity''.

[[Page H8111]]

       (5) On July 12, 2013, Malala celebrated her 16th birthday 
     by delivering a speech before the United Nations General 
     Assembly in which she said, ``So let us wage a glorious 
     struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism. Let us 
     pick up our books and our pens. They are the most powerful 
     weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can 
     change the world. Education is the only solution.''.
       (6) According to the United Nation's 2012 Education for All 
     Global Monitoring Report, ``Pakistan has the second largest 
     number of children out of school [in the world]'' and 
     ``nearly half of rural females have never been to school.''.
       (7) According to the World Bank, ``The benefits of women's 
     education go beyond higher productivity for 50 percent of the 
     population. More educated women also tend to be healthier, 
     participate more in the formal labor market, earn more 
     income, have fewer children, and provide better health care 
     and education to their children, all of which eventually 
     improve the well-being of all individuals and lift households 
     out of poverty. These benefits also transmit across 
     generations, as well as to their communities at large.''.
       (8) According to United Nation's 2012 Education For All 
     Global Monitoring Report, ``education can make a big 
     difference to women's earnings. In Pakistan, women with a 
     high level of literacy earned 95 percent more than women with 
     no literacy skills.''.
       (9) In January 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham 
     Clinton stated, ``We will open the doors of education to all 
     citizens, but especially to girls and women . . . We are 
     doing all of these things because we have seen that when 
     women and girls have the tools to stay healthy and the 
     opportunity to contribute to their families'' well-being, 
     they flourish and so do the people around them.
       (10) The United States provides critical foreign assistance 
     to Pakistan's education sector to improve access to and the 
     quality of basic and higher education.
       (11) The Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program 
     administered by the United States Agency for International 
     Development (USAID) awards scholarships to academically 
     talented, financially needy Pakistani students from all 
     regions, including remote areas of the country, to pursue 
     bachelor's or master's degrees at participating Pakistani 
     universities.
       (12) Fifty percent of the 974 Merit and Needs-Based 
     Scholarships awarded during fiscal year 2013 were awarded to 
     Pakistani women. Historically, only 25 percent of such 
     scholarships have been awarded to women. Starting in the fall 
     of 2013, USAID has committed to provide 50 percent of all 
     scholarships to women.
       (13) The United Nations declared July 12, 2013, as ``Malala 
     Day''--a global day of support for and recognition of 
     Malala's bravery and courage in promoting women's education.
       (14) On October 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the co-
     recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her ``struggle against 
     the suppression of children and young people and for the 
     right of all children to education''.
       (15) On December 10, 2012, the United Nations and the 
     Government of Pakistan launched the ``Malala Fund for Girls' 
     Education"'' to improve girls' access to education worldwide, 
     with Pakistan donating the first $10,000,000 to the Fund.
       (16) More than 1,000,000 people around the world have 
     signed the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education 
     petition calling on the Government of Pakistan to enroll 
     every boy and girl in primary school.
       (17) Pakistani civil society organizations collected almost 
     2,000,000 signatures from Pakistanis on a petition dedicated 
     to Malala's cause of education for all.
       (18) Engagement with Pakistani diaspora communities in the 
     United States, who have unique perspectives, access, and 
     opportunities to contribute to stability and economic growth 
     in Pakistan, will be a critical element of a successful 
     United States program to promote greater access to education 
     for women and girls.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       (a) In General.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) every individual should have the opportunity to pursue 
     an education;
       (2) every individual, regardless of gender, should have the 
     opportunity to pursue an education without fear of 
     discrimination;
       (3) educational exchanges promote institutional linkages 
     between the United States and Pakistan; and
       (4) recipients of scholarships referred to in section 4 
     should commit to improving their local communities.
       (b) Continued Support for Educational Initiatives in 
     Pakistan.--Congress encourages the Department of State and 
     the United States Agency for International Development to 
     continue their support for initiatives led by the Government 
     of Pakistan and Pakistani civil society that promote 
     education in Pakistan, especially education for women.

     SEC. 4. MERIT AND NEEDS-BASED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of the United States 
     Agency for International Development (referred to in this Act 
     as the ``USAID Administrator'') shall award at least 50 
     percent of the number of scholarships under the Merit and 
     Needs-Based Scholarship Program (referred to in this Act as 
     the ``Program'') to women for each of the calendar years 2014 
     through 2016.
       (b) Limitations.--
       (1) Criteria.--The scholarships available under subsection 
     (a) may only be awarded in accordance with other scholarship 
     eligibility criteria already established by USAID.
       (2) Academic disciplines.--Scholarships authorized under 
     subsection (a) shall be awarded for a range of disciplines to 
     improve the employability of graduates and to meet the needs 
     of the scholarship recipients.
       (3) Other scholarships.--The USAID Administrator shall make 
     every effort to award 50 percent of the scholarships 
     available under the Program to Pakistani women.
       (c) Leveraging Investment.--The USAID Administrator shall, 
     to the greatest extent practicable, consult with and leverage 
     investments by the Pakistani private sector and Pakistani 
     diaspora communities in the United States as part of USAID's 
     greater effort to improve the quality of, expand access to, 
     and ensure sustainability of education programs in Pakistan.

     SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.

       (a) In General.--The USAID Administrator shall designate 
     appropriate USAID officials to brief the appropriate 
     congressional committees, not later than 1 year after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 
     the next 3 years, on the implementation of section 4.
       (b) Contents.--The briefing described in subsection (a) 
     shall include, among other relevant information, for the most 
     recently concluded fiscal year--
       (1) the total number of scholarships that were awarded 
     through the Program, including a breakdown by gender;
       (2) the disciplines of study chosen by the scholarship 
     recipients;
       (3) the percentage of the scholarships that were awarded to 
     students seeking a bachelor's degree or a master's degree, 
     respectively;
       (4) the percentage of scholarship recipients who 
     voluntarily dropped out of school or were involuntarily 
     pushed out of the program for failure to meet program 
     requirements; and
       (5) the percentage of scholarship recipients who dropped 
     out of school due to retaliation for seeking an education, to 
     the extent that such information is available.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Malala Yousafzai 
Scholarship Act. I really want to thank the chairman emeritus of the 
Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. She authored this bill 
along with the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) and our colleague 
from New York (Mrs. Lowey).
  Earlier this year, the Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on 
women's education which underscored the point at the heart of the bill: 
a modest investment in educating women and girls in the developing 
world, particularly in areas beset by poverty and radicalism, can pay 
long-term dividends that help stabilize societies, promote market-based 
economic growth, and advance U.S. national security objectives.
  I have for years expressed concern about the appalling state of 
education in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan and the subsequent 
rise of madrasas, those that prey upon the disenfranchised and breed 
radicalism. And what I am speaking of now are the Deobandi schools, not 
the other madrasa, but the Deobandi ones in particular.
  The situation for women in areas where access to education is 
actively suppressed is particularly grim. In Pakistan's northwest 
frontier province and in Balochistan, for example, literacy among women 
is between 3 and 8 percent--under 8 percent. I visited all-girl schools 
in Pakistan up in the northwest frontier only to learn later, when I 
came back for another visit, that they had been destroyed and it was no 
longer possible to visit that site.
  It is therefore fitting that this bill was named after Malala 
Yousafzai, who at the age of 15 dared to defy the Taliban and survived 
a brutal assassination attempt, and ultimately inspired a generation of 
women and girls to demand their fundamental right to be educated. She 
is known today for

[[Page H8112]]

leading that effort. Just last month, Malala became the corecipient of 
this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle, in her words, for the 
right of all children to education.
  This legislation requires that USAID award at least half of the 
scholarships made available through its existing Merit and Needs-Based 
Scholarship Program in Pakistan to women. It adds no new money to the 
program, but it provides support and policy guidance to make sure that 
these scholarships are now going half to women.
  The bill also emphasizes the importance of working with the Pakistani 
diaspora, those communities in the United States who already are doing 
so much back in Pakistan relating to education and to the medical 
colleges and universities. Tapping into this vast pool of expertise and 
resources will prove invaluable to our long-term commitment to promote 
educational opportunity for girls in Pakistan and elsewhere.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I want to thank my colleague from Florida (Ms. 
Ros-Lehtinen) for her leadership on this issue, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3583, the 
Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act, and I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking my good friend, the 
chairman of the Middle East Subcommittee, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, for her commitment to girls' education and for authoring this 
bill. Ileana works hard at everything she does, and I am very proud of 
her, as usual, for her good work in this bill.
  I also want to thank Mrs. Lowey for the hard work she has put into 
this through the years. She has always been a good force on the 
Appropriations Committee with earmarks pushing for these very, very 
important things that we are putting forward here in this resolution.
  I want to also thank my fellow New Yorkers, Grace Meng and Jerrold 
Nadler, who are cosponsors of this bill, as well as Nita Lowey, as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, some of the most effective programs we funded in 
Pakistan in the years since 9/11 are those that support education, and 
particularly education for girls. The legislation before us today 
ensures that at least 50 percent of the scholarships that USAID 
provides in Pakistan are made available to girls and women. As the 
President has said, if a country is ``educating its girls, if women 
have equal rights, that country is going to move forward. But if women 
are oppressed and abused and illiterate, then they are going to fall 
behind.''
  The World Bank's top economist has said that financing women's 
education yields the highest rate of return of any investment in the 
developing world. But there is another compelling reason for the U.S. 
to support female education in Pakistan and in other countries around 
the world. Educated women and girls are proving to be some of the most 
powerful weapons in the fight against radicalism.
  Take the example of Malala, the courageous young woman. We all know 
about her. She was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a 
teenager, Malala became a vocal advocate for all girls to have the 
right to an education at a time when the Taliban in Afghanistan 
prohibited access to education for girls. When she wouldn't follow 
their orders, the Taliban shot her in the head for defying them. After 
recovering--thankfully--from the violent attack on her life, Malala's 
passionate calls for universal education inspired millions--I know she 
inspired me--and spurred action around the world.
  In the speech she gave at the U.N. in July of 2013, Malala said of 
the Taliban:

       They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they 
     failed. And then, out of that silence came thousands of 
     voices.

  Mr. Speaker, the positive impact of these voices will only continue 
to grow in Pakistan and around the world as more and more girls are 
given the opportunity to get an education. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I thank Chairman Royce once again for working with us and for being a 
vocal voice in all these important resolutions, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairwoman of the 
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, the 
author of this measure, but also, herself, a former educator who 
understands only too well the importance of this bill.

                              {time}  1630

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and 
Ranking Member Engel not only for helping bring this bill, H.R. 3583, 
to the floor today, but for working in such a smooth, bipartisan manner 
throughout their time over 2 years--and beyond, to infinity--and 
helping bring all of our Members together on incredibly vexing issues. 
Whether it is Iraq or Iran or ISIS or you name it, our committee works 
in a very smooth way. And it is thanks to the leadership at the top.
  I also want to thank Congresswoman Granger, Kay Granger, and Ranking 
Member Nita Lowey of the State Foreign Operations Subcommittee. They 
joined me in introducing this bill. This bill is as much theirs as it 
is mine. Also, Senator Boxer, on the Senate side, for her leadership on 
this issue.
  As Chairman Royce so nicely put it, I am a former Florida certified 
teacher. That is what I used to do in my real life. And I am a lifelong 
student and one of the most senior women in Congress today. I have been 
around a long time. So I hold the issue of education very near and dear 
to my heart.
  We know that access to education is a game changer for any society, 
Mr. Speaker. It could transform developing countries. It improves the 
lives of so many, especially in the vulnerable populations.
  Greater access to education for women and for young girls, it leads 
to an increased respect for human rights, it leads to a rise in 
prosperity and well-being, and a more peaceful and stable society.
  Everyone wins. A society in which women have unfettered access to the 
education system expands the horizons not just for the girls and women 
involved, but for everyone in their community and their nation. These 
countries that limit access to education for young girls and women are 
missing out. They are missing out on the untapped potential of nearly 
half of their population.
  Imagine how much more productive and how much better off some of 
these nations would be if they promoted a more inclusive society.
  What are they afraid of? It is no coincidence that the countries that 
are most susceptible to human trafficking and exploitation or the 
trappings of extremism and terrorism are also those countries that 
restrict a woman's access to education.
  Education is the most important factor in empowering young girls and 
women to become successful members of our society, protecting them from 
the ignorance that enables abuse, radicalization, and exploitation.
  And that is precisely the case in Pakistan, a country which has one 
of the highest number of children out of school already. They are not 
going to school. Two-thirds of all children out of school are girls.
  The numbers are troubling. Barely half of all girls in Pakistan are 
enrolled in primary schools. And that figure drops to 30 percent for 
secondary schools. These numbers are even lower in rural areas where 
poverty is ever increasing and girls have even less access to schools.
  A lot of this has to do with the Taliban, Mr. Speaker, that radical 
terror group that seeks to impose Shari'a law and forbids women, 
forbids girls from access to education.
  That is why this bill is so important. We need to help ensure that we 
can counter the Taliban's efforts to deny fundamental rights to women 
and limit their contributions to Pakistani society.
  The United States provides Merit and Needs-Based Scholarships to 
Pakistani children. But this bill will ensure that at least half of 
those scholarships go to women. There is still much more to be done to 
ensure access to education for all women in Pakistan and indeed 
throughout the world.
  Doing so would mean a safer society, a healthier society, a more 
stable and secure world, and so it would be in our national security 
interest to make it so.
  This is but a small step in the right direction. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill. I thank again my chairman, Chairman Royce of 
California,

[[Page H8113]]

and Mr. Engel of New York for guiding our committee in such a wonderful 
bipartisan way.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I want to first of all, again, thank Chairman Royce for working 
closely with us on all these pieces of legislation, and thank Ileana 
Ros-Lehtinen for her hard work and her collegiality as well.
  The legislation that we are passing now and the three pieces of 
legislation that we passed beforehand makes me very, very proud to be 
the ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I think we do 
good work on the committee. I think we do good bipartisan work on the 
committee. It is on issues like this that it is really very crucial and 
very important for the powers that be all over the world to see that 
foreign policy in America is bipartisan, that we are strongest when we 
work together, that we are strongest in tackling foreign policy issues 
when we do it in a bipartisan nature--and we have done it in the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs. So I want to tell the chairman how proud 
I am to work with him.
  Mr. Speaker, humanity will never reach its full potential until all 
children, especially girls, are given the opportunity to get an 
education. Educated women and girls make critical economic 
contributions, stabilize whole communities, and serve as bulwarks 
against extremism. This important legislation would ensure girls and 
women be given at least 50 percent of the scholarships we provide in 
Pakistan, a nation that continues to face enormous challenges, 
including the threat of terrorism.
  Again, I want to thank everybody. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Eliot Engel did something especially 
impactful. He quoted from the speech before the United Nations last 
year of Malala, in her own words. I thought I would just close by 
making her closing argument, which was:
  The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education 
frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of 
women frightens them. That is why they are blasting schools every day. 
Because they were and they are afraid of change, afraid of the equality 
that we will bring into our society.
  I ask for an ``aye'' vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as one of the co-sponsors and Co-Chair 
of both the Children's Caucus and the Pakistan Caucus, I rise in strong 
support of H.R. 3583, the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act.
   Mr. Speaker, the passage of H.R. 3583 would provide numerous 
educational opportunities to Pakistani women in situations similar to 
Malala Yousafzai.
  According to the United Nation's Education for All Global Monitoring 
Report, Pakistan has the second-largest number of children not 
attending school, and nearly half of rural girls have never been to 
school.
  The Pakistan-based Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program awards 
scholarships to academically talented, financially needy Pakistani 
students from all regions to pursue bachelor's or master's degrees at 
participating Pakistani universities.
  The Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act would require the U.S. Agency 
for International Development to award 50 percent of its Merit and 
Needs-Based Scholarship Program scholarships to Pakistani women each 
year through 2016.
  Mr. Speaker, Malala Yousafzai is the heroic Pakistani girl who rose 
to prominence as she stood against the oppressive policies imposed on 
the citizens of Pakistan by the Taliban.
  She is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, and was awarded the 
honor for her struggle against the suppression of children and young 
people and for the right of all children to education.
  Malala's devoted service to education, justice, and equality in 
Pakistan is deserving of recognition, which is why I introduced H.R. 60 
to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Malala Yousafzai.
  The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest civilian awards in 
the United States, and Malala's legacy of inspiring young women around 
the world is truly commendable and worthy of this honor.
  It is fitting that this act, the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act, is 
named in Malala's honor, as she is a symbol of hope in a country long 
beset by violence, and her actions demonstrate the impact one person 
can have on the entire world.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3583 to help 
change the lives of Pakistani women, like Malala Yousafzai, by opening 
doors to education, justice, and equality.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3583, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________