[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1029-1030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      IMPROVING WOMEN'S RIGHTS IS THE KEY TO PEACE IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 
announced a new ``Women's Action Plan'' for Afghanistan last week. I 
want to praise Secretary Clinton for this critically important 
initiative because I believe that improving women's rights is one of 
the important keys to peace in Afghanistan and in many other parts of 
the world as well.
  The action plan includes the following initiatives: improved security 
for women in Afghanistan; provide girls and women with better 
education; expand women's access to judicial institutions; improve 
women's health care; expand economic development opportunities for 
women; and increase women's participation in the political process in 
every level of government.

[[Page 1030]]

  Mr. Speaker, there is a great need for those initiatives because 
women's rights have been ignored or destroyed in Afghanistan for many 
years, especially under Taliban rule. In Afghanistan, the lives of 
girls and women are at risk every single day because many laws actually 
don't exist to protect women, and there are many laws that actually 
discriminate against women. It's also important to remember that the 
health care is so poor in Afghanistan that it has the second highest 
mortality rate in the world. Hundreds of girls' schools in Afghanistan 
have also been destroyed by extremists. The list, Mr. Speaker, goes on 
and on.
  But in the United States, we can help. We can help improve the lives 
of women in Afghanistan. If we do this, it would be a devastating 
defeat for the violent extremists in that country and a great victory 
for progress in Afghanistan.
  As a State Department official said last week, ``Progress is not 
possible if half a country's population is left behind. Afghan women 
must not be viewed simply as victims who need to be sheltered. They 
must be respected and valued as leaders--a reserve of talent that 
Afghan society needs to draw upon in order to prosper and succeed.''
  Mr. Speaker, I want to mention just one particular example of how 
women can help Afghanistan to prosper because when women are allowed to 
work, they invest up to 90 percent of their earnings in their family 
and communities. That's twice the rate of men. And it has a powerful 
multiplier effect.
  So, Mr. Speaker, improving the status of women has been a central 
part of this SMART security platform which I have been urging for 
Afghanistan. I am convinced that SMART security would do far more to 
win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people than military action. 
That's why I have opposed President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more 
troops to Afghanistan. We don't need more troops. We need a new 
strategy.
  This new strategy must focus on economic development, humanitarian 
aid, better education and health care, and human rights. We must 
encourage and we must help the Afghan people to build a better future 
and show that we, the United States, are on their side. Certainly 
women's rights must be at the heart of this new strategy. In fact, 
advancing women's rights might be the most effective anti-terrorist 
strategy we can have in Afghanistan.
  So let's support Secretary Clinton's ideas, suggestions, by 
empowering the women of Afghanistan. It will help keep them safe and it 
certainly will keep us safer.

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