[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3184-3186]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I'd like to commemorate 
International Women's Day. This day is an occasion to honor the many 
and diverse achievements and contributions of women worldwide, and the 
progress that they have made toward equal rights. It is also an 
important time to reflect upon the hardships and injustices that 
millions of women still face, and to reaffirm our commitment to take 
actions to overcome them and to further women's progress.
  For nearly a century, women in communities across the globe have been 
uniting on March 8th to celebrate their achievements and to bring 
attention to their fight for equality, justice and peace. In that time 
women have made great strides toward equal participation in all spheres 
of life, and at all levels of decision-making.
  Here in the United States, more women are earning college degrees, 
entering the workforce and starting their own businesses than ever 
before. Economic opportunities for women are expanding and home 
ownership is up. Women are playing a greater role in shaping local, 
state and federal policies that affect their families and them, as they 
are more active in the political process at all levels. The recent 2000 
elections resulted once again in a record number of women serving in 
the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and as Governors of States. 
We continue to see more women in top positions of federal agencies and 
in President's Cabinets. For the first time in American History, we 
have a woman, Condoleezza Rice, serving as our National Security 
Advisor to the President.
  Despite these impressive strides, much work still needs to be done. 
Women are still vastly under-represented at all levels of government. 
Although the gender wage-gap has narrowed since 1963, when Congress 
mandated equal pay for equal work, unfair wage disparities continue to 
be a problem. Wage discrimination is costing families thousands of 
dollars each year. These financial losses, coupled with a lack of 
affordable quality child care, forces many women to still have to make 
difficult choices about their children and their career.
  Just this week, women lost an important battle when the U.S. Senate 
voted to overturn the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's 
final ergonomics standard. This standard would have helped protect the 
1.8 million Americans workers who suffer workplace injuries caused by 
repetitive motions. These injuries are particularly prevalent among 
women because many of the jobs held predominately by women require 
repetitive motions or repetitive heavy lifting. So we must recognize 
that there is still much work to be done in the area of equal rights 
for women.
  Today we must also consider the achievements and challenges of women 
abroad. As Ranking Member of the African Affairs Subcommittee of the 
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I have had the opportunity to 
learn more about the status of women on that continent. Last month, as 
I traveled to the West African countries of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and 
Senegal, I was reminded of the tremendously important role that women 
play in the political, economic, and social fabric of that region and 
so many others. I met Nigerian women who have been prodding officials 
to face the HIV/AIDS crisis head-on; women working to build peace in 
Sierra Leone, and women devoted to improving girls' education in 
Senegal. I am pleased to celebrate their achievements and contributions 
today.
  However, millions of women in Africa and throughout the world face a 
great uphill battle before they will achieve full equality. Women are 
still more likely than men to be poor, malnourished and illiterate, and 
have less access to health care, financial credit, property ownership, 
job training and employment. In some places women are still denied the 
very basic right to vote, to let their voices be heard.
  Many girls and women around the world face tragic human rights abuses 
daily, as victims of domestic violence, and exploitive practices such 
as illegal trafficking for slavery or prostitution. In some countries, 
deplorable ``honor killings'' are still prevalent, where women are 
murdered by their male relatives for actions--perceived or real--that 
are thought to bring dishonor on their families. In regions of 
conflict, rape and assaults on women are used as weapons of war, and 
perpetrators are rarely prosecuted.
  For years, mass rape and sexual crimes have been considered normal 
occurrences of war, and only recently have these heinous crimes started 
to get the international attention that they deserve. An important 
victory for girls and women occurred last month when the United Nations 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, 
convicted three men for rape, torture and enslavement during the war in 
Bosnia. The international court set an important precedent by defining 
rape as a crime against humanity.
  There are many important ways that we can further protect women's 
human rights and improve the status of women and their families both 
domestically and internationally. One of the ways that the United 
States Senate can work towards that end is by acting upon the United 
Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 
Against Women, CEDAW. Two decades have passed since the U.S. signed 
this important treaty, and yet it remains pending before the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee. I once again call upon the committee to 
hold hearings on CEDAW so that the Senate can offer its advice and 
consent on this treaty.
  The U.S. can also support efforts to ensure that it is devoting 
significant resources to battling HIV/AIDS which is killing millions of 
women and their families, in Africa and other regions of the world. 
Congress can pass legislation such as the Paycheck Fairness Act to 
provide more effective remedies to victims of salary discrimination on 
the basis of gender. These are only a few of many initiatives that will 
impact women's lives.
  So, in closing as we mark International Women's Day, today and in the 
future, it is important for us to remember both the accomplishments of 
women and the many injustices that remain, and for the United States 
and the international community to reaffirm their commitment to 
promoting gender equity and human rights across the globe.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today is an important day for women 
and girls around the world. Today, we stand firmly on the side of basic 
human rights. Today, we rededicate ourselves to a better tomorrow. 
Today, we state loud and clear to those who seek to do women harm, ``No 
more.'' Today is March 8, 2001, International Women's Day.
  Having spent many years trying to raise awareness about the need for 
equality for women and girls in the United States and around the world, 
I am encouraged by the advancements we have made since the United 
Nations first designated March 8th as International Women's Day in 
1975. Nevertheless, we still have a long ways to go and I would like to 
take this time to discuss several critical issues that I believe are 
vital to the lives of women and girls and require U.S. leadership: 
international family planning, the Convention on the Elimination of All 
Forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, sex trafficking, rape as 
an instrument of war, and the plight of women in Afghanistan.
  Every Senator, I believe, is well aware of the issue of United States 
assistance to international family planning organizations. There have 
been few issues in recent years that have been more debated, with 
people of good intentions on both sides of the issue. Consequently, I 
was dismayed when President Bush opted to start his administration by 
reinstating the ``global gag rule'' restricting United States 
assistance to international family planning organizations.
  Do we not understand the importance of family planning assistance? 
There

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are now more than 6 billion people on this Earth. The United Nations 
estimates this figure could be 12 billion by the year 2050. Almost all 
of this growth will occur in the places least able to bear up under the 
pressures of massive population increases. The brunt will be in 
developing countries lacking the resources needed to provide basic 
health or education services.
  Only if women have access to such educational and medical resources 
needed to control their reproductive destinies and their health will 
they be able to better their own lives and the lives of their families
  No one should doubt that international family planning programs 
reduce poverty, improve health, and raise living standards around the 
world; they enhance the ability of couples and individuals to determine 
the number and spacing of their children.
  Nevertheless, in recent years these programs have come under 
increasing partisan attack by the anti-choice wing of the Republican 
party, despite the fact that no U.S. international family planning 
funds are spent on international abortion.
  All American women, as they consider their own reproductive rights, 
should consider the aim and intent of a policy in which the 
reproductive rights of American women are approached one way, and those 
of women in the developing world another.
  Since President Bush is unlikely to change his mind, I urge my 
colleagues to support the Global Democracy Act of 2001, introduced by 
my friend and colleague from California, Senator Boxer. This important 
piece of legislation will allow foreign Non-Governmental Organizations 
that receive U.S. family planning assistance to use non-U.S. funds to 
provide legal abortion services, including counseling and referrals, 
and will lift the restrictions on lobbying and advocacy.
  The United States must reclaim its leadership role on international 
family planning and reproductive issues. The United States must renew 
its commitment to help those around the world who need and want our 
help and assistance. On International Women's Day, I urge my colleagues 
to support the Global Democracy Act of 2001.
  Last year, I was proud to join a bi-partisan group of women Senators 
in co-sponsoring Senate Resolution 237, a resolution expressing the 
sense of the Senate that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should 
hold hearings on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women and the full Senate should act on the 
Convention by March 9, 2000.
  That day came and went and here we are a year later, still waiting 
for the Senate to act.
  In fact, women have been waiting for over 20 years for the Senate to 
ratify the convention on discrimination against women. The United 
States actively participated in drafting the convention and President 
Carter signed it on July 17th, 1980.
  In 1994, the Foreign Relations Committee recommended by bipartisan 
vote that the convention be approved with qualifications, but acted too 
late in the session for the Convention to be considered by the full 
Senate.
  Given the length of the delay and the level of scrutiny, one might 
expect the convention on discrimination against women to be a 
technically demanding international agreement. Nothing could be further 
from the truth.
  In fact, the convention is simple. It requires states to take all 
appropriate steps to eliminate discrimination against women in 
political and public life, law, education, employment, health care, 
commercial transactions, and domestic relations.
  One hundred and sixty-one countries have ratified the convention. Of 
the world's democracies, only the United States has yet to ratify this 
fundamental document. Indeed, even countries we regularly censure for 
human rights abuses China--the People's Republic of Laos, Iraq--have 
either signed or agreed in principle.
  In our failure to ratify the convention on discrimination against 
women, we now keep company with a select few: Iran, North Korea, Sudan, 
and Afghanistan among them. Remember, as the old saying goes, we are 
judged by the company we keep. Is this how we want to be known when it 
comes to defending the human rights of those unable to defend 
themselves?
  In failing to ratify this convention on discrimination against women, 
we risk losing our moral right to lead in the human rights revolution. 
By ratifying the convention, we will demonstrate our commitment to 
promoting equality and to protecting women's rights throughout the 
world. By ratifying the convention, we will send a strong message to 
the international community that the U.S. understands the problems 
posed by discrimination against women, and we will not abide by it. By 
ratifying the convention, we reestablish our credentials as a leader on 
human rights and women's rights.
  Today, as we commemorate International Women's Day, I call on my 
colleagues in the Senate to move forward and ratify Convention on 
discrimination against women.
  The coerced trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is 
an ugly, disturbing, and, unfortunately, growing practice that demands 
our attention.
  Over 1 million people are trafficked each year around the world, with 
50,000 going to the United States. Trafficking generates billions of 
dollars a year and now constitutes the third largest source of profits 
for organized crime, behind only drugs and guns.
  These criminal groups prey upon women from poor countries who suffer 
from poverty, war, and hopelessness and desperately want a chance at a 
better life. They are enticed by promises of good paying jobs in richer 
countries as models, au pairs, dancers, and domestic workers.
  Once the women fall victim to the these gangs they are forced into 
labor, have their passports seized, and are subjected to beatings, 
rapes, starvation, forced drug use, and confinement.
  These victims have little or no legal protection. They travel on 
falsified documents or enter by means of inappropriate visas provided 
by traffickers. When and if discovered by the police, these women are 
usually treated as illegal aliens and deported. Even worse, laws 
against traffickers who engage in forced prostitution, rape, kidnaping, 
and assault and battery are rarely enforced. The women will not testify 
against traffickers out of fear of retribution, the threat of 
deportation, and humiliation for their actions.
  I am shocked and appalled that this horrible and degrading practice 
continues. The United States must act as a leader to rally the 
international community to put a stop to the trafficking of women and 
girls. I am proud that the 106th Congress passed, and President Clinton 
signed into law, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 
of 2000. Among other things, the bill: directs the Secretary of State 
to provide an annual report to Congress listing countries that do and 
do not comply with minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking; establishes an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and 
Combat Trafficking; provides assistance to foreign countries for 
programs and activities to meet the minimum international standards for 
the elimination of trafficking; withholds U.S. non-humanitarian 
assistance to countries that do not meet minimum standards against 
trafficking and are not making efforts to meet minimum standards, 
unless continued assistance is deemed to be in the U.S. national 
interest; and increases penalties for those engaged in sex trafficking.
  In addition, the fiscal year 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations 
Act earmarked at least $1.35 million for the Protection Project to 
study international trafficking, prostitution, slavery, debt bondage, 
and other abuses of women and children.
  These are significant steps, but much work needs to be done. We must 
enforce the laws we have passed and we must consider new laws to 
protect victims and bring traffickers to justice. On International 
Women's Day, I urge my colleagues to continue the fight against the 
sexual trafficking of women and girls.
  Rape as an instrument of war is an issue which, in recent years, has 
been of increasing concern to me.

[[Page 3186]]

  Rape is no longer an isolated by-product of war; it is increasingly a 
tool to advance war aims. In recent years in Bosnia, Rwanda, and East 
Timor soldiers and militiamen used rape on a organized, systematic, and 
sustained basis to further their goal of ethnic cleansing. In some 
cases, women were kidnaped, interned in camps and houses, forced to do 
labor, and subjected to frequent rape and sexual assault.
  I was pleased that the United Nations, in setting up the war crime 
tribunals for the Balkans and Rwanda, recognized rape as a war crime 
and a crime against humanity.
  Nevertheless, I was very disappointed by the repeated failure of the 
international community, especially in the former Yugoslavia, to see 
that those who were indicted for perpetrating these crimes were brought 
to justice. It appeared that the major step forward taken by the 
creation of the tribunals would be nullified by inaction.
  Finally, on February 22, 2001, the international tribunal in The 
Hague sentenced three Bosnian Serbs to prison for rape during the 
Bosnian war. I was very pleased the court took this step. Clearly, 
there is still much work to be done. Estimates are that up to 20,000 
women in Yugoslavia were systematically raped as part of a policy of 
ethnic cleansing and genocide. Many perpetrators still remain at large.
  Nevertheless, the court has stated loud and clear that those who use 
rape as an instrument of war will no longer be able to escape justice. 
They will be arrested, tried, and convicted. As Judge Florence Mumba of 
Zambia stated, ``Lawless opportunists should expect no mercy, no matter 
how low their position in the chain of command may be.''
  I commend the victims who courageously came forward to confront their 
attackers and offer testimony that helped lead to the convictions. The 
international community, and women in particular, owe them a debt of 
gratitude.
  On International Women's Day, I urge the Administration and the 
international community to join me in continuing the fight to end the 
practice of rape as an instrument of war, and to pursue justice for its 
victims.
  Perhaps nowhere in the world today is there a clearer test of our 
commitment of the cause of women's rights than Afghanistan.
  To put it simply, I am shocked and dismayed at the treatment of women 
in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Afghan women have been banned from work 
and school and are largely confined in their homes behind darkened 
windows. They are required to wear full-length veils, or burka, when in 
public and must be accompanied by a male member of the family. In 
addition, access to medical services has been dramatically reduced. 
Widows are not allowed to work and must beg to subsist.
  The women of Afghanistan, who have seen their families destroyed by 
war, are now having their economic life and their fundamental human 
rights stripped away, and the violations of Afghan women's basic human 
rights have pushed an already war-torn and war-weary Afghanistan to the 
brink of disaster.
  The suffering of Afghan women and girls must not be ignored by the 
United States and the international community. I am working on 
legislation with Senator Boxer to address their plight and put pressure 
on the Taliban to respect basic human rights.
  On International Women's Day, the United States, with our history of 
commitment to women's rights and equality, must redouble its efforts to 
place respect for women's rights at the top of the international 
community's agenda regarding Afghanistan.
  We must debate and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All 
Forms of Discrimination Against Women. We must rededicate ourselves and 
our resources to international family planning programs. We must 
enforce tough anti-trafficking legislation. We must not ignore the 
gross violations of the human rights of Afghan women.
  We cannot afford to remain silent. We cannot afford to place women's 
rights on a second tier of concern of U.S. foreign policy. On 
International Women's Day, the United States and the international 
community must take a strong stand and issue a clear warning to those 
who attempt to rob women of basic rights that the world's governments 
will no longer ignore these abuses, or allow them to continue without 
repercussion.

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