[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 3, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        GIRLS COUNT ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 1, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as the Chair of the Congressional 
Children's Caucus and a senior member of the Judiciary and Homeland 
Security Committees, I rise in strong support of S. 802, the ``Girls 
Count Act of 2015.''
  I support this legislation which authorizes the Secretary of State 
and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International development 
to: (1) support programs that will contribute improved civil 
registration and vital statistics systems with a focus on birth 
registration; and (2) promote programs that build the capacity of 
developing countries' national and local legal and policy framework to 
prevent discrimination against girls, and help increase property 
rights, social security, land tenure, and inheritance rights for women.
  In addition, this bill authorizes the Secretary and the U.S. AID 
Administrator to cooperate with multilateral organizations to promote 
such programs.
  As co-chair of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Algeria Caucuses, I 
have long advocated for the rights for women around the world. In the 
current Congress, I introduced H.R. 69 and H.R. 57, two bills that 
promote women's rights.
  H.R. 69 is a bill awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to Malala 
Yousafzai, the Nobel Laureate for Peace, in recognition of her devoted 
service to education, justice, and equality.
  Malala Yousafzai is an inspiration to young people in the United 
States and children who must struggle to receive an education.
  In a speech before the United Nations, she called for a global 
struggle against literacy, poverty and terrorism.
  She closed her remarks by saying ``One child, one teacher, one pen, 
and one book can change the world.''
  The Taliban remains unrepentant while she remains defiant and said 
that the day she was shot ``weakness, fear and hopelessness died.''
  While her road to recovery proved to be amazing and complete, she has 
not been deterred in pursuing her goal of education rights for young 
girls in her native land and for this, her life continues to be 
threatened by the Taliban.
  H.R. 57 requires that activities carried out by the United States in 
South Sudan relating to governance, post-conflict reconstruction and 
development, police and military training, and refugee relief and 
assistance support the human rights of women and their full political, 
social, and economic participation.
  According to the United States Census Bureau's 2013 international 
figures, 1 person in 12, or close to 900 million people, is a girl or 
woman age 10 through 24.
  The Census Bureau's data also illustrates that young people are the 
fastest growing segment of the population in developing countries.
  Even though most countries have birth registration laws, four out of 
ten babies born in 2012 were not registered worldwide.
  Moreover, an estimated 36 percent of children under the age of five 
worldwide (about 230,000,000 children) do not possess a birth 
certificate.
  A nationally recognized proof of birth system is important to 
determining a child's citizenship, nationality, place of birth, 
parentage, and age.
  Without such a system, a passport, driver's license or other 
identification card is difficult to obtain.
  The lack of such documentation can prevent girls and women from 
officially participating in and contributing to the formal economic, 
legal, and political sectors in their country.
  The lack of birth registration among girls worldwide is particularly 
concerning as it can exacerbate the disproportionate vulnerability of 
women to trafficking, child marriage, and lack of access to health and 
education services.
  A lack of birth registration among women and girls can also aggravate 
what, in many places, amounts to an already reduced ability to seek 
employment, participate in civil society, or purchase or inherit land 
and other assets.
  Girls undertake much of the domestic labor needed for poor families 
to survive: carrying water, harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring 
for younger children, and doing chores.
  Mr. Speaker, to help ensure that women and girls are considered in 
United States foreign assistance policies and programs, that their 
needs are addressed in the design, implementation, and evaluation of 
foreign assistance programs, and that women and girls have the 
opportunity to succeed, it is important that girls be counted and have 
access to birth certificates and other official documentation.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in strong support for S. 802.

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