[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 6, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H1383-H1386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I am here today to talk about something 
that is completely unimaginable to me. I can't imagine I am here to 
talk about it on the floor of the House of Representatives. I can't 
imagine that it occurs in the world. I can't imagine that it occurs on 
this very day in this world. I can't imagine that it occurs in our 
country, but it does.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with all who condemn a 
horrific practice on this, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for 
Female Genital Mutilation.
  Today, I introduced a bipartisan resolution with my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Florida, Congresswoman Lois Frankel, which calls for a 
coordinated response from the United States and the international 
community to end this horrific and cruel practice.
  The numbers surrounding FGM are shocking. They are staggering. Two 
hundred million women and girls alive today are survivors of FGM. Of 
those 200 million, 44 million are girls at or under the age of 14.

[[Page H1384]]

  Madam Speaker, these are children. These are the little girls who you 
see going to elementary school in your community.
  This year alone, an estimated 3 million girls are at risk of being 
genitally mutilated. In 25 countries where FGM is routinely practiced, 
between the years 2015 and 2030, an estimated 68 million girls will be 
cut, unless we take concerted and accelerated action.
  This is an urgent situation when you imagine what happens, and I am 
going to go through it with you.
  People ask, what exactly is FGM? Until just a few years ago, until I 
read about it and met some of the ladies who have had to endure it, I 
didn't know and I wasn't aware. But FGM comprises all procedures that 
involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or 
other injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical reasons.
  There is no medical necessity whatsoever to do this. It is most 
commonly performed on girls from infancy to age 15.
  Now, just think about that: no anesthesia, no forewarning, no 
approval.
  Madam Speaker, I am joined by the gentlewoman. Wonderful.
  FGM is classified into four major types, ranging from pricking, 
nicking, scraping, and cauterization, to total excision and 
infibulation.
  FGM is widely recognized by the international community as a 
violation of women's and girls' basic human rights, the right to their 
own body, their very own body and no one else's, and what happens to 
it.
  Organizations that condemn FGM include the United Nations, the 
African Union, the European Union, and the Organization of Islamic 
Cooperation.
  The World Health Organization says this practice has no health 
benefit for women and girls and, instead, can have severe short- and 
long-term impacts on the physical, psychological, sexual, and 
reproductive health of these innocent, helpless girls.
  The immediate physical complications of FGM include, obviously, 
severe pain, excessive bleeding, fever, urinary issues, shock, and 
death. That is just the beginning.
  In the long term, a girl may experience cysts, infections, 
septicemia, painful and difficult urination and menstruation, and 
increased risk of death during childbirth for both the mother and the 
unborn child.

  The pain inflicted by FGM doesn't stop with the initial procedure. It 
often serves as an ongoing torture throughout the woman's life, for her 
whole life.
  Who practices FGM? FGM is a deeply rooted cultural practice. 
Different communities give different explanations for why they insist 
upon FGM, which usually involves nonfactual, misleading, and, frankly, 
insulting arguments about cleanliness and womanhood.
  FGM communities often consider the practice a necessary part of 
raising a girl and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage. It 
is literally unbelievable. It is viewed as a way to ensure premarital 
virginity and marital fidelity. It is more likely to be carried out by 
communities that believe that this mutilation increases 
marriageability.
  In other communities, FGM is practiced under the notion that girls 
are more clean and beautiful after removal of body parts that are 
considered unclean, unfeminine, or male.
  As an international community, we must work with these communities to 
provide accurate information about the harm of this practice, about the 
long-term harm of this practice to women and girls, and change the 
narrative that somehow FGM is okay or tolerable for any reason 
whatsoever.
  It is not okay. It is not tolerable for any reason under the Sun.
  People ask where FGM is practiced. FGM is primarily concentrated in 
30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, for girls 
11 and younger, FGM has the highest prevalence in Gambia at 56 percent, 
Mauritania at 54 percent, and Indonesia at 50 percent.
  It is most common in Somalia, Guinea, and Djibouti, where more than 
90 percent of women and girls ages 15 to 49 are mutilated on a regular 
and systematic basis.
  Make no mistake, however: FGM is a global problem. The World Health 
Organization warns that growing migration has increased the number of 
girls and women living outside their country of origin who have 
undergone FGM or who are at risk in Europe, Australia, Latin America, 
and North America.
  Just last Friday, February 1, the United Kingdom handed down its 
first-ever guilty verdict of a woman who committed FGM on her 3-year-
old daughter.
  I have daughters. It is just unimaginable to me.
  The largest health network in Belfast saw 17 cases of FGM in just 9 
months between April 2017 and January 2018.
  Unfortunately, unbelievably, FGM has also made headlines in the 
United States. In April 2017, Federal prosecutors for the first time 
used a 1996 Federal statute criminalizing the practice of FGM to bring 
charges in Livonia, Michigan, against Drs. Fakhruddin Attar and Jumana 
Nagarwala.
  These doctors are accused of performing FGM on at least nine underage 
girls, from 8 to 13 years old, from at least three States. This is 
happening right here in our communities.
  I have an excerpt from the 10 criminal complaint pages against Dr. 
Nagarwala. This is what happened, according to investigators and the 
victims themselves. These are direct excerpts.

       On April 10, 2017, victim 1 was interviewed by a child 
     forensic interviewer employed by the FBI. She is 7 years old. 
     She stated that she was brought to Detroit, Michigan, with 
     victim 2 for a ``special'' girls' trip. After they arrived at 
     the hotel, victim 1 advised that she and victim 2 had to go 
     to the doctor because ``our tummies hurt.'' While at the 
     doctor's office, a procedure ``to get the germs out'' of her 
     was performed.
       Victim 1 identified an unmarked photograph of Nagarwala and 
     said that she was the person who performed the procedure.
       Victim 1 said she took off her pants and underwear and laid 
     on an examining table with her knees near her chest and her 
     legs spread apart. She said that Nagarwala ``pinched'' her on 
     the ``place where she goes pee,'' and that she was given a 
     pad to wear in her underwear as she left. She said that she 
     was told not to talk about the procedure.
       On April 11, 2017, a medical doctor in Minnesota performed 
     a complete medical examination of victim 1 pursuant to a 
     search warrant. Your affiant has spoken with the medical 
     doctor who performed the exam, and the doctor's preliminary 
     findings are that her genitals are not normal in appearance. 
     Her labia minora has been altered or removed, and her 
     clitoral hood is also abnormal in appearance. Finally, the 
     doctor observed some scar tissue and small healing 
     lacerations.
       On April 10, 2017, victim 2 was interviewed by a child 
     forensic interviewer employed by the FBI. Victim 2 is also 7 
     years old. She said that she came to Detroit with victim 1 
     and that she went to a doctor's office. She identified a 
     photograph of Nagarwala as the doctor who she saw in Detroit.
       Victim 2 said that, in the examination room, Nagarwala took 
     off her pants and underwear and put her on the table. She 
     said that she ``got a shot,'' and that it hurt really badly 
     and she screamed. She said the ``shot'' was on her upper 
     right thigh.
       She drew a picture of the room, and she drew an X to 
     indicate blood on the examining table. She said her parents 
     told her that the procedure is a secret and that she is not 
     supposed to talk about it.
       She said that, after the procedure, she could barely walk 
     and that she felt pain all the way down to her ankle. She 
     said Nagarwala told her that she was fine.
       Victim 2 said that she left one of her winter gloves in the 
     medical office.

  This is a little 7-year-old girl.

       On April 10, 2017, a search warrant was executed at the 
     medical clinic. During the search, agents found a child's 
     winter glove in the medical clinic. The glove had victim 2's 
     first name written on it.

  Nineteen months later, in November 2018, a Federal judge in the 
Eastern District Court of Michigan ruled the 1996 Federal statute 
unconstitutional and actually dismissed several charges against these 
so-called doctors and their co-conspirators.
  In the Michigan case, Judge Friedman of the Eastern District Court of 
Michigan wrote that ``Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to 
prohibit FGM. . . . `Local criminal activity' . . . is for the States 
to regulate, not Congress.''
  Because of that, because of that disappointing and horrific news, the 
good gentlewoman from Florida and I are offering a bill today that 
works within the Federal Government's jurisdiction to combat this 
reprehensible practice.

                              {time}  1515

  On Monday, I introduced two bills. The first was the bipartisan 
Protect Our Girls Act, H.R. 959, in which we expressly criminalized the 
transport of a minor across State lines for the purpose of female 
genital mutilation. The

[[Page H1385]]

majority of these girls involved in the recent case were from Minnesota 
and Illinois, while the mutilation was performed in a clinic in 
Michigan.
  My second proposal, the Empower Our Girls Act, H.R. 960, adds female 
genital mutilation to seven grant programs within the Violence Against 
Woman Act, or what is commonly known as VAWA. The grants will focus on 
providing assistance in the criminal justice system and support from 
social service organizations to these ladies and little girls.
  This is the first time that VAWA programs will address FGM and will 
allow victims of this unspeakable, unimaginable act to have the same 
opportunity to receive assistance as victims of other violent crimes.
  The bill also adds female genital mutilation as a separate crime 
under the FBI's uniform criminal reporting system.
  By codifying the existence of this crime, the bill lays the 
foundation for collecting information as it occurs across States. 
Reporting will assist in identifying other measures to bolster 
prevention and prosecution.
  Before I yield to my good friend from Florida (Ms. Frankel), I just 
want to tell folks who might be listening or watching that one of the 
things that we hear when we go to the States--because law enforcement 
typically happens at the State level--and we say, ``Would you please 
consider a law for this so that this doesn't happen, so that this is 
illegal, so that people aren't encouraged to practice it but are 
discouraged from practicing?'' they will say, ``Well, it doesn't happen 
here. We don't have any cases of it being reported.''
  It is not going to be reported, folks. The people who are doing this 
are doing it in secret. And once it has happened to a young girl or a 
lady, imagine the shame or the fear of going to a doctor and talking 
about something like that.
  It is not reported for a reason. And because it is not reported, it 
is becoming more prevalent. We just can't allow that to happen.
  At this time, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).
  Ms. FRANKEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Perry for yielding. 
I have to say it was quite difficult to listen to you, not because you 
are not articulate, but these stories are horrific. I just thank you on 
a bipartisan basis that we can address this horrible, horrible 
situation.
  I am rising here today and I am joining, of course, Representative 
Perry on International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital 
Mutilation. I say that every girl, no matter where she is born, has a 
right to live free of violence.
  When women and girls are empowered, when they are provided access to 
quality healthcare and education, communities thrive. In fact, the best 
predictor of a country's peacefulness is how well its women are 
treated.
  Uplifting the value of women around the world is an American value 
that must continue. And still, there are horrific norms and cultural 
practices, like female genital mutilation, or we call it FGM for short, 
and it is holding back women from reaching their full potential.
  Representative Perry, I actually met a victim of this very, very 
cruel act last year. She came to a panel discussion. Her name was Jaha, 
a young woman from Gambia. She told us that when she was actually born, 
when she was 1 week old, she was mutilated, and that at age 15, she was 
married off. She told us this is very common. It is happening to 
something like 200 million women today.
  Now, Jaha, she is a champion, because she broke away from her 
marriage and she became a champion advocate for her daughter. She 
became an advocate. Through her advocacy, FGM is now banned in Gambia. 
So she has shown us that it can be done.
  200 million girls and women today have been cut, leaving them with 
irreversible emotional and physical damage which can lead to infection, 
severe bleeding, complication in childbirth and increased risk of 
newborn death.
  It is horrific, it is inhumane, and it is a gross violation of human 
rights. And it is not just tied to one religion or culture; it could 
happen anywhere. It is unbelievable to say that it still happens in the 
United States of America, as you so aptly pointed out.
  I am very happy to be here with you. In fact, I am very proud to be 
here with you to just send a clear message that FGM is unacceptable. It 
must stop. And I am so pleased to join you in all your efforts, our 
joint efforts to stop this practice.
  And I will add something: In the United States, there is more that we 
can do in terms of resources. At least $15 million is needed, annually, 
to continue our efforts. I would like to see us put into law the U.S. 
strategies to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, globally, 
and to empower adolescent girls, recognizing that FGM is a gender-based 
violence.
  As importantly, we must restore our funding to the U.N. Population 
Fund, which is providing care to 2 million survivors around the world. 
It is time we recommit to ensuring the safety and empowerment of women 
and girls.
  Mr. Speaker, I know Representative Perry would join me in saying, 
when women succeed, so does the world.
  Mr. PERRY. Well, I thank the gentlewoman so much, and I know this is 
a sensitive, uncomfortable topic, but it must be discussed. We can't 
just close our eyes and turn our head from uncomfortable things.
  I am so proud and thankful that the gentlewoman has been willing to 
step up and stand up for these young ladies all around the world and in 
the United States as well, in our communities. Make no mistake, ladies 
and gentlemen, this is violence. This is violent.
  Now, a friend showed me a picture, and it is one of those things 
where you sometimes wish you hadn't seen something that you had seen, 
and you can't unsee it but it has such an impact on you. I have that 
picture now, so I am just going to continue to talk about that a little 
bit.
  This is a picture from a National Geographic magazine. And when I and 
the gentlewoman from Florida talk about the cultural aspects of this--
this poor little girl. You can see the grimace on her face.
  There is no sanitation, so to speak. This is not necessarily 
performed in a doctor's office. It looks almost like a school with a 
bunch of people around, right? No anesthesia.
  They are holding her down, three of them holding her down. She 
doesn't want this to happen. This lady is smiling in her face. I can't 
imagine this little girl--wherever she is from, whoever she is, I can't 
imagine that this, somehow, is acceptable anywhere.
  I feel compelled--I feel it is my duty, it is our duty--to speak out 
and say something about this to make sure it doesn't happen anywhere--
it doesn't happen in our homes; it doesn't happen to one more little 
girl. I stand before you today to call for an end to this horrific, 
barbaric practice internationally.
  Only 28 of our United States have statutes criminalizing FGM to any 
varying degree. And again, I have gone to my State, and I have said: 
``Please, will you do something?''
  ``Well, this isn't happening. We don't have any reports of it.''
  We don't have any reports because it is legal. If people knew it was 
illegal, they would report it when they saw it. When this little girl 
goes to the doctor some day, they would report it.
  I ask that the 22 States that currently have no law banning FGM, to 
include my home State of Pennsylvania, to pass legislation immediately. 
I am asking them right here, right now, today, on this day of 
international condemnation of this barbaric practice.
  This is the day, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, 
female genital mutilation. Now is the time to stand up for the 
voiceless.
  These are little girls. These are little girls whose mothers and 
fathers take them to do this to them. Sometimes they do it to them, as 
you have heard, themselves. Little girls who trust their parents, who 
trust their mother would never hurt them, right? Voiceless.
  This must be criminalized, this horrific practice of FGM. FGM has 
absolutely no place in America or anywhere else in the world. Again, 
there is no medical reason to do this whatsoever--none. It is 
unconscionable.
  FGM is unconscionable. It is a systematic form of abuse and female 
subjugation perpetrated against the youngest and most vulnerable among 
us.
  And it doesn't just end right there. When she is done with this, it 
doesn't

[[Page H1386]]

end there. She has got to heal, which may take weeks and months, or 
longer, physically. But the scars of what happens to this little girl 
and millions around the world and in our country, as well, lasts the 
rest of their lifetime. For what?
  As our society becomes more transient and diverse, we must strengthen 
our efforts to stop this practice. It simply must end immediately. 
Those who perpetrate it must be brought to swift justice in the United 
States. We can no longer have somebody report and put themselves out 
there and peril themselves, make themselves vulnerable to retribution 
or what have you for the judge to throw it out.
  I am not here to criticize the judge who looked at the Constitution 
and said: Look, this isn't the place for it.
  I get that. That is the judge's job. But it is our job in Congress to 
get this right, to make sure that the law says one way or the other: 
This is a problem in our country. We don't accept this. We reject this, 
and there is going to be a penalty for doing this.
  Those little girls can't protect themselves. They have no protection 
whatsoever. They are counting on their parents and the adults in their 
lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and 
across the political spectrum for their support of bipartisan solutions 
to condemn and stop this atrocity. We have great support, and we think 
we are going to get even more support, bipartisan support.
  There are not many things that Democrats and Republicans, that 
conservatives and liberals across the country can agree upon, but we 
can all agree that, if that were our little girl, there is no way in 
hell we would let that happen. There is no way.
  So not only us, as different people on different sides of the aisle 
here in this United States Congress, but the international community is 
also weighing in on this as well, as you have already heard. They have 
said enough is enough.
  It is bad enough that it is happening in other parts of the world, 
but in the 21st century, in 2019, this is happening right here in the 
United States of America. And Americans need to be aware. They need to 
be informed. The medical practitioners need to be informed.
  Law enforcement needs a tool. They need something to ensure that the 
people who are contemplating doing this will contemplate not doing it; 
that people who think somehow it is culturally acceptable figure out 
and are informed that it is not; that people who somehow feel that they 
must do this to their little girl so that they can then force her into 
some marriage and that she will be acceptable to the partner that she 
is forced to be with, that that is no longer acceptable either.
  It never was acceptable. It is not acceptable in the United States, 
and it is our job to make sure it is not acceptable anywhere. And it 
starts right here, and it starts right now. We have waited too long.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been my privilege to speak up on this issue.

                              {time}  1530

  It is sensitive, and that is why people don't want to speak up on it, 
because it is embarrassing to talk about, and I guess they are afraid 
of the embarrassment. But I am not. Somebody has to speak up for these 
little girls that have no one else, that, after the fact, can do 
nothing about this for the rest of their lives.
  They only have us here, people who don't know them, people who will 
probably never ever know them. They have us, and it is our job. It is 
our duty to stick up for them and put ourselves out here. And if it 
takes being uncomfortable, well, that is what it takes.
  Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to be here today to offer this. I would 
ask that if my colleagues who are listening haven't heard about this, 
please take a look at these two pieces of legislation. I appreciate 
their input. If they have got ways to improve them or if they are 
concerned about what we are trying to do here and think it is 
overreaching or something like that, I would appreciate your input.
  We want to make sure that we are doing the best job that we can, and 
that we are doing the best job that we can for little girls like this 
who are being held down against their will and having their body parts 
cut off of them because of some culture and some ideas that they will 
somehow be more worthy in their community once they are mutilated for 
the rest of their life. That is our job here.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________