[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1839-S1840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I wish to commemorate International 
Women's Day, which occurred this past Friday, March 8, 2019. On this 
day each year, we recognize and celebrate women's incredible 
achievements and double down on our commitment to advance gender 
equality and women's empowerment, both at home and abroad.
  The theme of International Women's Day this year is ``Think equal, 
build smart, innovate for change,'' which highlights the importance of 
finding new ways to advance gender equality, especially by utilizing 
technology. In January of this year, President Trump signed a bill 
Senator Boozman and I sponsored, the Women's Entrepreneurship and 
Economic Empowerment Act, WEEE Act, into law. This important, 
bipartisan legislation allows women around the world, including those 
living in poverty, to access critical tools to start and grow their 
businesses. It requires that 50 percent of U.S. Agency for 
International Development's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise 
resources are targeted to activities that reach the very poor, as well 
as enterprises women own, manage, and control. The WEEE Act empowers 
women to invest in themselves, their families, and their communities.
  A McKinsey Global Institute report estimates that achieving global 
gender parity in economic activity could add as much as $28 trillion to 
annual global gross domestic product by 2025. The WEEE Act will help 
women overcome the critical barriers they face when seeking economic 
opportunity and the legislation will open doors for children, families, 
and communities to benefit, too.
  This year's theme of ``Think equal, build smart, innovate for 
change'' also provides the opportunity to celebrate some of the 
incredible and life-changing innovations being launched around the 
world. In Cambodia, for example, CARE has developed a gamified mobile 
app called ``Chat!'' to provide cost-effective and high-impact 
reproductive health education to its young, female population working 
in the garment industry. Cambodia has the largest youth and adolescent 
population in Southeast Asia; two-thirds of the population are under 
the age of 29. Increasing numbers of Cambodians, especially young 
women, are migrating to urban areas to support its garment industry.
  According to CARE, 85 percent of Cambodia's garment factory workers 
are women, who are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. According to 
the United Nations' research on women, one in three women are likely to 
face violence in her lifetime. Therefore, applications like Chat! are 
critical to reach this population and provide reproductive health 
information and services, helping these women make informed and healthy 
choices and prevent unplanned pregnancies.
  While International Women's Day provides the opportunity to celebrate 
such successes, it is also critically important to recognize the work 
that lies ahead in the fight for gender equality, and especially the 
challenges that female human rights defenders face in this fight. A 
recent United Nations report on human rights defenders describes 
increased resistance to the work of female human rights defenders at 
multiple levels, linked to the rise of populism, fundamentalism, and 
violent extremism around the world.
  The report highlights the increasing number of countries that are 
actively restricting fundamental human rights, including the freedoms 
of expression, association, and assembly, and specifically notes the 
enforced disappearances of female defenders in Saudi Arabia. Samar 
Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, for example, were arrested last summer for 
advocating to lift the ban on female drivers and end the guardianship 
system that prevents women from legal and social independence. Amal al-
Harbi was also arrested last summer for advocating for the release of 
her husband, Fowzan al-Harbi, a human rights defender. These female 
human rights defenders remain detained to this day, and several of 
these activists are due to appear in Saudi court this week. With no 
access to legal representation, I and many of my colleagues fear that 
these activists will be charged and tried for crimes they did not 
commit, as a result of engaging in peaceful activities to advance human 
rights in Saudi Arabia, which are protected under international law.
  The reduction in funding for women's rights in recent years is also 
an immense challenge to future progress, a challenge exasperated by the 
Trump administration's actions, particularly in the realm of women's 
health. The Trump administration's reinstatement and expansion of the 
Mexico City policy, often referred to as the Global Gag Rule, for 
example, has closed the door on some of the most effective, lifesaving 
family planning programs by disqualifying international organizations 
from receiving U.S. family planning assistance if any non-U.S. funds 
are used to provide abortion services or counseling. The implementation 
of this expanded policy, as the aforementioned UN report notes, has 
``threatened the integration of health services and created division in 
civil society around the world.'' As underscored by the example of 
Chat!, we know that family planning tools are critical to providing the 
education, information, and services that help prevent unplanned 
pregnancies and abortions.
  As I have stated in the past, America's global leadership begins with 
our progress here in the United States. This also extends into the 
realm of gender equality. A critical challenge to progress here at home 
is the fact that our own Constitution does not already guarantee women 
the same rights and protections as men. The Fourteenth Amendment of the 
Constitution guarantees ``equal protection of the laws,'' and the 
Supreme Court, so far, has held that most sex or gender classifications 
are subject to only ``intermediate scrutiny'' when analyzing laws that 
may have a discriminatory impact. Ratification of the Equal Rights 
Amendment, ERA, by State legislatures would provide the courts with 
clearer guidance in holding gender or sex classifications to the 
``strict scrutiny'' standard. That is why on January 25, 2019, Senator 
Murkowski and I introduced a resolution to immediately remove the 
ratification deadline and reopen consideration of the ERA for 
ratification by the States and finally guarantee full and equal 
protections to women in the Constitution.
  While we have much to celebrate on this day, I want to take this 
opportunity to remind my colleagues in the U.S. Senate that we must 
continue to use our leadership positions to shine a spotlight on human 
rights violations, wherever they occur, and push for the

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immediate release of human rights defenders around the world, 
imprisoned for exercising fundamental human rights. We must also end 
the Global Gag Rule once and for all, and we must finally grant women 
equality under the law. By doing so, we will truly recommit ourselves 
to breaking down the barriers that remain for women's empowerment, so 
that we can pave the path towards prosperity for generations to come.

                          ____________________