[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 206 (Tuesday, November 30, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8835-S8836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4862. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Ms. Ernst) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3867 proposed by Mr.
Reed to the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2022 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1216. STATUS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Since May 2021, the escalation of violent conflict in
Afghanistan has forcibly displaced an estimated 655,000
civilians, and 80 percent of those forced to flee are women
and children.
(2) Since regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021,
the Taliban have taken actions reminiscent of their brutal
rule in the late 1990s, including by cracking down on
protesters, detaining and beating journalists, reestablishing
the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of
Vice, and requiring women to study at secondary schools and
universities in gender-segregated classrooms while wearing
Islamic attire.
(3) Until the Taliban assumed control of the country in
August 2021, the women and girls of Afghanistan had achieved
much since 2001, even as insecurity, poverty,
underdevelopment, and patriarchal norms continued to limit
their rights and opportunities in much of Afghanistan.
(4) Through strong support from the United States and the
international community--
(A) female enrollment in public schools in Afghanistan
continued to increase through 2015, with an estimated high of
50 percent of school age girls attending; and
(B) by 2019--
(i) women held political leadership positions, and women
served as ambassadors; and
(ii) women served as professors, judges, prosecutors,
defense attorneys, police, military members, health
professionals, journalists, humanitarian and developmental
aid workers, and entrepreneurs.
(5) Efforts to empower women and girls in Afghanistan
continue to serve the national interests of Afghanistan and
the United States because women are sources of peace and
economic progress.
(6) With the return of Taliban control, the United States
has little ability to preserve the internationally recognized
human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, and those
women and girls may again face the intimidation and
marginalization they faced under the last Taliban regime.
(7) Women and girls in Afghanistan are again facing gender-
based violence, including--
(A) forced marriage;
(B) intimate partner and domestic violence;
(C) sexual harassment;
(D) sexual violence, including rape; and
(E) emotional and psychological violence.
(8) Gender-based violence has always been a significant
problem in Afghanistan and is expected to become more
widespread with the Taliban in control.
(9) Prior to the Taliban takeover in August 2021,
approximately 7,000,000 people in Afghanistan lacked or had
limited access to life-saving health services as a result of
inadequate public health coverage, weak health systems, and
conflict-related interruptions in care.
(10) Women and girls faced additional challenges, as their
access to prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum care was
limited due to a shortage of female medical staff, cultural
barriers, stigma and fears of reprisals following sexual
violence, or other barriers to mobility, including security
fears.
(11) Only approximately 50 percent of pregnant women and
girls in Afghanistan deliver their children in a health
facility with a professional attendant, which increases the
risk of complications in childbirth and preventable maternal
mortality.
(12) Food insecurity in Afghanistan is also posing a
variety of threats to women and girls, as malnutrition
weakens their immune systems and makes them more susceptible
to infections, complications during pregnancy, and risks
during childbirth.
(13) With the combined impacts of ongoing conflict,
drought, and COVID-19, Afghan households increasingly resort
to child marriage, forced marriage, and child labor to
address food insecurity and other effects of extreme poverty.
(14) In Afghanistan, the high prevalence of anemia among
adolescent girls reduces their ability to survive childbirth,
especially when coupled with high rates of child marriage and
forced marriage and barriers to accessing prenatal and
childbirth services.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) since 2001, organizations and networks promoting the
empowerment of women and girls have been important engines of
social, economic, and political development in Afghanistan;
(2) any future political order in Afghanistan should secure
the political, economic, and social gains made by Afghan
women and work to increase the equal treatment of women and
girls in society;
(3) respecting the internationally recognized human rights
of all people is essential to securing lasting peace and
sustainable development in Afghanistan;
(4) in cooperation with international partners, the United
States must endeavor to
[[Page S8836]]
preserve the hard-won gains made in Afghanistan during the
past two decades, particularly as related to the social,
economic, and political empowerment of women and girls in
society;
(5) the continued provision of humanitarian assistance in
Afghanistan should be targeted toward the most vulnerable,
including for the protection, education, and well-being of
women and girls;
(6) immediate and ongoing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan
can only be met by a humanitarian response that includes
formal agreements between local nongovernmental
organizations, including women-led organizations, and
international partners that promotes the safe access and
participation of female staff at all levels and across
functional roles among all humanitarian actors; and
(7) a lack of aid would exacerbate the current humanitarian
crisis and harm the well-being of women and girls in
Afghanistan.
(c) Policy of the United States Regarding the Rights of
Women and Girls of Afghanistan.--
(1) In general.--It is the policy of the United States--
(A) to continue to support the internationally recognized
human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan following the
withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from
Afghanistan, including through mechanisms to hold all parties
publicly accountable for violations of such rights against
women and girls and violations and abuses of international
humanitarian law;
(B) to strongly oppose any weakening of the political or
economic rights of women and girls in Afghanistan;
(C) to use the voice and influence of the United States at
the United Nations to promote, respect, and uphold the
internationally recognized human rights of women and girls in
Afghanistan, including the right to safely work, including
outside the home;
(D) to identify individuals who violate the internationally
recognized human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan,
such as by committing acts of murder, lynching, and grievous
domestic violence against women, and to press for bringing
those individuals to justice; and
(E) to systematically consult with Afghan women and girls
(including women and girls who are part of the Afghan
diaspora community), including through women-led
organizations and networks, on their needs and priorities in
the development, implementation, and monitoring of
humanitarian action, diplomatic efforts, and foreign
assistance activities.
(d) Humanitarian Assistance and Afghan Women.--The
Secretary of State, in coordination with the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development,
should work to ensure that Afghan women are employed and
enabled to work in the delivery of humanitarian assistance in
Afghanistan, to the extent practicable.
(e) Report on Women and Girls in Afghanistan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter
through 2024, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress, and make available to the
public, a report that includes the following:
(A) An assessment of, including recommendations on, the
status of women and girls in Afghanistan following the
departure of United States and partner military forces,
including with respect to the access of such women and girls
to primary and secondary education, primary and emergency
health care, and legal protections and status.
(B) An assessment of the political and civic participation
of women and girls in Afghanistan.
(C) An assessment of the employment of women in both the
public and private sectors in Afghanistan.
(D) An assessment of the prevalence of gender-based
violence in Afghanistan and the status of access to justice
and other dispute resolution mechanisms to redress incidents
of gender-based violence.
(E) A report on funds for United States foreign assistance
obligated or expended during the period covered by the report
to advance gender equality and the internationally recognized
human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, including
funds directed toward local organizations promoting such
rights of women and girls, that includes the following:
(i) The amounts awarded to prime recipients and
subrecipients for such purposes during the reporting period.
(ii) A description of each program for which such funds are
used for such purposes.
(2) Assessment.--
(A) Input.--The assessment described in paragraph (1)(A)
shall include the input of--
(i) Afghan women and girls;
(ii) Afghan and international organizations employing and
working with Afghan women and girls; and
(iii) Afghan and international humanitarian organizations,
including faith-based organizations, providing assistance in
Afghanistan.
(B) Safety and confidentiality.--In carrying out the
assessment described in paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure the safety
and confidentiality of personal information of each
individual who provides information from within Afghanistan.
(3) Definition of appropriate committees of congress.--In
this subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of
Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
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