[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 23144-23145]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 86--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
 WOMEN FROM ALL ETHNIC GROUPS IN AFGHANISTAN SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE 
          ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. McCain, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. 
Snowe, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Hutchison, and Mrs. Boxer) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 86

       Whereas until 1996 women in Afghanistan enjoyed the right 
     to be educated, work, vote, and hold elective office;
       Whereas women served on the committee that drafted the 
     Constitution of Afghanistan in 1964;
       Whereas during the 1970s women were appointed to the Afghan 
     ministries of education, health, and law;
       Whereas in 1977 women comprised more than 15 percent of the 
     Loya Jirga, the Afghan national legislative assembly;
       Whereas during the war with the Soviet Union as many as 70 
     percent of the teachers, nurses, doctors, and small business 
     owners in Afghanistan were women;
       Whereas in 1996 the Taliban stripped the women of 
     Afghanistan of their most basic human and political rights;
       Whereas under Taliban rule women have become one of the 
     most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, accounting for 75 
     percent or more of all Afghan refugees;
       Whereas a study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights 
     and released in May 2001 indicates that more than 90 percent 
     of Afghan men and women believe that women should have the 
     right to receive an education, work, freely express 
     themselves, enjoy legal protections, and participate in the 
     government; and
       Whereas restoring the human and political rights that were 
     once enjoyed by Afghan women is essential to the long-term 
     stability of a reconstructed Afghanistan: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) a portion of the humanitarian assistance provided to 
     Afghanistan should be targeted to Afghan women and their 
     organizations;
       (2) Afghan women from all ethnic groups in Afghanistan 
     should be permitted to participate in the economic and 
     political reconstruction of Afghanistan; and
       (3) any constitution or legal structure of a reconstructed 
     Afghanistan should guarantee the human and political rights 
     of Afghan women.

  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I rise today, along with my colleagues 
Senators Kerry, McCain, Clinton, Cantwell, Snowe, Mikulski, Boxer, and 
Hutchison to submit a resolution expressing the sense of Senate that 
women from all ethnic groups should participate in the economic and 
political reconstruction of Afghanistan. This is an issue we feel 
strongly about, and it is my hope that the Senate will soon take up 
this important issue. Let me also thank Congresswoman Connie Morella 
for her work on this matter and for introducing companion legislation 
in House.
  As you know, since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996, women 
and girls living under this regime have been subjected daily to an 
array of human rights violations, from lack of access to education and 
health care to outright violence. They have been denied equal 
protection under the law, and have struggled to survive without the 
same professional or financial opportunities afforded the men in their 
country.
  Certainly, even before the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan was in 
many respects a country in crisis, facing drought, ethnic conflict, and 
uncertain leadership. It was the women and children of this troubled 
country that bore the brunt of this suffering. However, despite these 
many hardships, the women of Afghanistan persevered, and played a large 
and meaningful role in Afghani society. Prior to the rule of the 
Taliban, women had the right to vote, served as cabinet ministers, 
enjoyed rich professional careers, and indeed constituted a majority of 
country's lawyers, doctors, teachers, and business owners. Women 
participated in every aspect of Afghani life, and were fully integrated 
into its cultural, political, and economic fabric. However, since the 
Taliban regime came to power, conditions for women and children have 
worsened drastically. Stripped of their basic human rights and 
freedoms, they have fought hard to provide for themselves and their 
families, and to weather the many abuses suffered at the hands of the 
oppressive fundamentalist regime. Many women studied and taught in 
secret, determined to retain something of the life they knew before 
they were forced to retreat behind the burka.
  In response to this humanitarian crisis, United States policy in 
Afghanistan has been guided, in part, by overwhelming concerns about 
these and other gross human rights violations. Now that we are in midst 
of military action against the Taliban in response to the horrific 
attacks on American civilians on September 11, we have the opportunity 
to help restore to the Afghani women the basic freedoms and 
opportunities which should be available to all citizens of the world. 
In addition, I believe that long-term stability in Afghanistan is 
contingent upon a full and expeditious renewal of these rights. The 
people of Afghanistan, both men and women, believe overwhelmingly that 
there is a place for Afghani women in Islamic society that affords them 
opportunities for meaningful professional and political roles in the 
rebuilding of their country.

[[Page 23145]]

The reconstruction of Afghanistan, both politically and culturally, 
will require the insight and dedication of all of the people of 
Afghanistan, and women must not be excluded from this vital process. 
They must be included as equal partners as this nation begins to 
recover and rebuild.
  In many ways September 11 has become a turning point for the United 
States. It has been one of sorrow, and it has been a wake-up call that 
we need to guard our rights and our way of life. But it also an 
opportunity for the yoke of oppression to be once and for all lifted 
from the Afghani people, particularly the women and children who have 
suffered so much over the last decade. I urge my colleagues to support 
this resolution.

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