[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 27 (Monday, February 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 494--DENOUNCING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION OR CUTTING 
 AS A VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS AND URGING THE 
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE EFFORTS 
                   TO ELIMINATE THE HARMFUL PRACTICE

  Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Capito, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, 
Mrs. Loeffler, Mrs. Fischer, and Mr. Braun) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 494

       Whereas female genital mutilation or cutting (referred to 
     in this preamble as ``FGM/C'') is recognized internationally 
     as a violation of the human rights of women and girls;
       Whereas FGM/C 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;
       Whereas an estimated 200 million girls and women alive as 
     of January 2020 have been victims of FGM/C, with girls under 
     the age of 15 representing 44 million of those who have been 
     cut;
       Whereas more than 3 million girls are estimated to be at 
     risk of FGM/C annually;
       Whereas the practice of FGM/C is mostly carried out on 
     young girls between infancy and age 15;
       Whereas the practice of FGM/C is rooted in gender 
     inequality and is often linked to other elements of gender-
     based violence and discrimination, such as child marriage;
       Whereas the World Health Organization asserts that FGM/C--
       (1) has no health benefits for women and girls; and
       (2) can have long-term impacts on the physical, 
     psychological, sexual, and reproductive health of the women 
     and girls who experience FGM/C;
       Whereas the impacts of FGM/C on the physical health of 
     women and girls can include bleeding, infection, obstetric 
     fistula, complications during childbirth, and death;
       Whereas, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, 
     FGM/C is reported to occur in all parts of the world, but is 
     most prevalent in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia;
       Whereas, although the practice of FGM/C is highly 
     concentrated in specific regions and associated with several 
     cultural traditions, it is not tied to any one religion;
       Whereas, in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention published a report estimating that 513,000 women 
     and girls in the United States were at risk of, or may have 
     been subjected to, FGM/C;
       Whereas, in 2015, the United Nations adopted a set of 17 
     Sustainable Development Goals that includes a target to 
     eliminate FGM/C by 2030, having previously recognized in 2010 
     that ``the abandonment of this harmful practice can be 
     achieved as a result of a comprehensive movement that 
     involves all public and private stakeholders in society'';
       Whereas the elimination of FGM/C has been called for--
       (1) by numerous intergovernmental organizations, including 
     the African Union, the European Union, and the Organization 
     of Islamic Cooperation; and
       (2) in 3 resolutions of the United Nations General 
     Assembly;
       Whereas the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights 
     Practices prepared by the Department of State include 
     information on--
       (1) whether FGM/C is prevalent;
       (2) the type and category of genital cutting that is most 
     common; and
       (3) international and governmental efforts to address the 
     practice of FGM/C;
       Whereas the Federal Government recognized FGM/C as a form 
     of gender-based violence in--
       (1) the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to 
     Gender-Based Violence Globally, released in August 2012 and 
     updated in June 2016; and
       (2) the United States Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent 
     Girls, released in March 2016;
       Whereas a Government Accountability Office report released 
     in 2016 concluded that ``State and USAID currently have 
     limited international assistance efforts to address FGM/C''; 
     and
       Whereas, in 2012, the United Nations General Assembly 
     designated February 6 as the ``International Day of Zero 
     Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation'' to enhance 
     awareness of, and encourage concrete actions by governments 
     and individuals against, the practice of FGM/C: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) denounces female genital mutilation or cutting as a 
     violation of the human rights of women and girls;
       (2) affirms the importance of ending the practice of female 
     genital mutilation or cutting globally for the safety and 
     security of women;
       (3) calls upon the international community to increase 
     efforts to accelerate the elimination of female genital 
     mutilation or cutting; and
       (4) urges the Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
     the United States Agency for International Development to 
     incorporate coordinated efforts to eliminate female genital 
     mutilation or cutting into the gender programs of the 
     Department of State and the United States Agency for 
     International Development, respectively.

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