[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.
____________________