[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROTECTING GIRLS' ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN VULNERABLE SETTINGS ACT

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 530, S. 1580.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1580) to enhance the transparency, improve the 
     coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to 
     support access to primary and secondary education for 
     displaced children and persons, including women and girls, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with 
an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Girls' Access to 
     Education in Vulnerable Settings Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) As of June 2018, more than 68,000,000 people have been 
     displaced by disasters and conflicts around the world, the 
     highest number recorded since the end of World War II, of 
     which more than 25,000,000 people are refugees.
       (2) More than half of the population of refugees are 
     children and, according to the United Nations High 
     Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 4,000,000 school-aged 
     refugee children lack access to primary education.
       (3) Education offers socioeconomic opportunities, 
     psychological stability, and physical protection for 
     displaced people, particularly for women and girls, who might 
     otherwise be vulnerable to severe forms of trafficking in 
     persons (as such term is defined in section 103(9) of the 
     Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
     7102(9)), child marriage, sexual exploitation, or economic 
     disenfranchisement.
       (4) Displaced children face considerable barriers to 
     accessing educational services and, because the duration of 
     such displacement is, on average, 26 years, such children may 
     spend the entirety of their childhood without access to such 
     services.
       (5) Despite the rising need for educational services, as of 
     2016, less than two percent of humanitarian aid was directed 
     toward educational services.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) it is critical to ensure that children, particularly 
     girls, displaced by conflicts overseas are able to access 
     educational services because such access can combat extremism 
     and reduce exploitation and poverty; and
       (2) the educational needs of vulnerable women and girls 
     should be considered in the design, implementation, and 
     evaluation of related United States foreign assistance 
     policies and programs.

     SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

       It is the policy of the United States to--
       (1) partner with and encourage other countries, public and 
     private multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental and 
     civil society organizations, including faith-based 
     organizations and organizations representing parents and 
     children, to support efforts to ensure that displaced 
     children have access to safe primary and secondary education;
       (2) work with donors to enhance training and capacity-
     building for the governments of countries hosting significant 
     numbers of displaced people to design, implement, and monitor 
     programs to effectively address barriers to such education; 
     and
       (3) coordinate with the governments of countries hosting 
     significant numbers of displaced people to--
       (A) promote the inclusion of displaced children into the 
     educational systems of such countries; and
       (B) in circumstances in which such inclusion is difficult, 
     develop innovative approaches to providing safe primary and 
     secondary educational opportunities, such as encouraging 
     schools to permit children to be educated by extending the 
     hours of schooling or expanding the number of teachers.

     SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL 
                   SERVICES FOR DISPLACED CHILDREN.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the 
     Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
     Development are authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing 
     efforts to support programs that--
       (1) provide safe primary and secondary education for 
     displaced children;
       (2) build the capacity of institutions in countries hosting 
     displaced people to prevent discrimination against displaced 
     children, especially displaced girls, who seek access to such 
     education; and
       (3) help increase the access of displaced children, 
     especially displaced girls, to educational, economic, and 
     entrepreneurial opportunities, including through the 
     governmental authorities responsible for educational or youth 
     services in such host countries.
       (b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The 
     Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to coordinate 
     with the World Bank, appropriate agencies of the United 
     Nations, and other relevant multilateral organizations to 
     work with governments in other countries to collect relevant 
     data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the ability of 
     displaced people to access education and participate in 
     economic activity, in order to improve the targeting, 
     monitoring, and evaluation of related assistance efforts.
       (c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society 
     Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator are 
     authorized to work with private sector and civil society 
     organizations to promote safe primary and secondary education 
     for displaced children.

     SEC. 6. REPORT.

       The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in the 
     report required under section 7 of the READ Act (division A 
     of Public Law 115-56; 22 U.S.C. 2151c note) a description of 
     any primary or secondary educational services supported by 
     programs for natural or manmade disaster relief or response 
     that specifically address the needs of displaced girls.

  Mr. GARDNER. I further ask unanimous consent that the committee-
reported substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill, as amended, be 
considered read a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  Mr. GARDNER. I know of no further debate on the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  Hearing none, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (S. 1580), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. GARDNER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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