[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19960]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 19960]]

                              AFGHAN WOMEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schrock). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, the terrorist attacks of September 11 
swept away our innocence and left us with grief and anger, anxiety and 
a resoluteness to make sure this does not happen again and to eradicate 
terrorism.
  I just listened to part of a special order that the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Inslee) had with regard to screening baggage. Security 
is critically important. We do have the technology to do it. I want to 
comment on my cosponsorship of that legislation and the need that we do 
something more about security, making sure that every bag is checked.
  But also with regard to September 11, I rise before this body to 
recognize the women of Afghanistan. Later we are going to hear from the 
Women's Caucus, a special order. I want to thank the Women's Caucus and 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) for initiating that special 
order, but I chose to speak at this point about the same issue.
  Upon seizing power in 1996, the Taliban in Afghanistan instituted a 
system of gender apartheid over the women of Afghanistan. Under the 
Taliban, women have been stripped of their visibility, their voice, and 
their mobility. They are unable to participate in the workforce, attend 
schools or universities, and often prohibited from leaving their homes 
unless accompanied by a close male relative. The windows of their homes 
are often painted black; and they are all forced to wear a burqa, or 
chadari, which completely shrouds the body, leaving only a small, mesh-
covered opening through which to see. Women are prohibited from being 
examined by male physicians while at the same time female doctors and 
nurses are prohibited from working.
  Women have been brutally beaten, publicly flogged and killed for 
violating Taliban decrees. In Kabul and other cities, a few home 
schools for girls operate, although they operate only in secret. Women 
who conduct these secret classes to educate women are risking their 
lives or risking a very severe beating. Many of us watched in horror 
these circumstances which were documented in the film, ``Beneath the 
Veil.''
  Prior to the Taliban control, Mr. Speaker, especially in Kabul, which 
is the capital, women in Afghanistan were educated and they were 
employed. Fifty percent of the students and 60 percent of the teachers 
at Kabul University were women. And 70 percent of school teachers, 50 
percent of civilian government workers, and 40 percent of doctors in 
Kabul were women. The Taliban shield their behavior behind claims of a 
pure, fundamentalist Islamic ideology, yet the oppression they 
perpetrate against women has no basis in Islam. Within Islam, women are 
allowed to earn and control their own money and participate in public 
life.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be joining my colleagues who will be following 
this evening in recognizing the women and the girls who have been 
enslaved and stripped of their basic human rights under the leadership 
of the Taliban. I hope that we can raise the awareness of gender 
apartheid in Afghanistan and women around the world who are unable to 
escape severe poverty, who face an extreme lack of health care and 
education, and survive day to day with constant hunger.
  In the next few weeks, I will be introducing the GAINS Act, which 
stands for, the acronym, Global Action and Investments for New Success 
for Women and Girls. I am introducing this legislation because economic 
globalization is leaving the world's poorest women, girls, and 
communities behind. Women and their children make up more than 70 
percent of the 1.3 billion poorest people today.
  Because we have not taken adequate steps to implement commitments 
made at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in its 
foreign policy and international assistance programs, we need a 
template for ensuring the implementation of these important 
commitments. I hope that everyone in this body will join me in 
supporting the GAINS Act and also in taking steps to improve the lives 
of millions of women and girls in Afghanistan.

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