[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7592-7594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kirk, 
        and Mrs. Shaheen):
  S. 2307. A bill to prevent international violence against women, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to join with my colleagues, 
Senators Boxer, Kirk, Menendez, and Shaheen, in introducing the 
International Violence Against Women Act of 2014. This bill makes 
ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority. It 
would permanently authorize the State Department's Office of Global 
Women's Issues and the position of the Ambassador-at-Large for Global 
Women's Issues.
  It requires the administration to develop and implement an annual 
strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls for 
each of the next 5 years. This legislation will ensure that the efforts 
begun under President George W. Bush and continued by President Barack 
Obama to combat gender-based violence will be a priority for future 
administrations as well.
  We have witnessed great strides in women's equality in our own 
country and in much of the developed world over the past century. 
Across vast swaths of the globe, however, violence against women and 
forced marriages are everyday occurrences. One out of three women 
worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her 
lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries.
  This violence ranges from domestic violence to rape and acid 
burnings, to dowry deaths and so-called honor killings. Such violence 
is often exacerbated in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings. 
Violence against women and girls is a human rights issue, a public 
health epidemic, and a barrier to solving global challenges such as 
extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and conflict.
  The world has just seen an appalling example of women and girls being 
treated as property and bargaining chips in Nigeria, where the 
terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 school girls and is 
threatening to sell them into sexual slavery and into forced marriages. 
Tragically, there are reports that some have already been sold into 
child marriages. Boko Haram's leaders said the girls should get married 
and never be educated. He has said:

       I will marry off a woman at the age of 12. I will marry off 
     a girl at the age of 9.

  In fact, the very name of this terrorist group roughly translates to 
the phrase ``Western education is sinful.'' Sadly, this is a viewpoint 
that is not just limited to terrorist leaders, though it is difficult 
to think of a more egregious example of abuse against girls than what 
we have just witnessed in Nigeria. The International Center for 
Research on Women says that one in nine girls around the world is 
married before the age of 15, a harmful practice that deprives girls of 
their dignity and often their education, increases their health risks, 
and perpetuates poverty. The practice of preventing women from 
attaining their full potential by targeting them for violence and early 
marriage is still far too common in far too many countries around the 
world.
  The International Violence Against Women Act ensures that our country 
will take a leadership role in combating these problems. It establishes 
that it is the policy of the United States to take action to prevent 
and respond to violence against women and girls around the globe and to 
integrate and coordinate efforts to address gender-based violence into 
U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance programs.
  Specifically, our bill will foster efforts in four areas. First, it 
will increase legal and judicial protections by supporting laws and 
legal structures that prevent and appropriately respond to all forms of 
violence against women and girls, including honor killings and forced 
marriages. For example, our bill will support our State Department's 
work with other countries to help those nations reform their legal 
systems by providing technical expertise and model laws and building 
the capacity of their police and judges.
  Second, our bill will increase efforts to build health sector 
capacity, integrating programs to address violence against women and 
girls into existing health care programs focused on children's 
survival, women's health, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

[[Page 7593]]

  Third, our legislation will focus on preventing violence by changing 
community norms and attitudes against the acceptability of violence 
against women and girls.
  Fourth, our bill will focus on reducing females' vulnerability to 
violence by improving their economic status and educational 
opportunities. Efforts would include ensuring that women have access to 
job training and employment opportunities and increasing their right to 
own land and property, allowing them potentially to support themselves 
and their children.
  Our bill will require the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to 
Gender-Based Violence Globally to identify 5 to 20 eligible low- and 
middle-income countries for which comprehensive individual country 
plans would be developed. The bill requires that at least 10 percent of 
U.S. assistance to prevent and respond to violence against females be 
provided to nongovernmental organizations, with priority given to those 
headed by women.
  As the Presiding Officer well knows, violence has a profoundly 
negative impact on the lives of women and girls. In addition to being a 
pressing human rights issue, such violence contributes to inequality 
and political instability, making it a security issue as well as a 
moral issue for all of us.
  I am committed to working with my colleagues to end violence against 
women and girls and to provide the assistance and resources necessary 
to achieve this goal, and I am pleased to be the principal cosponsor of 
Senator Boxer's bill.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. McCASKILL (for herself, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Levin, and Mr. 
        Rockefeller):
  S. 2308. A bill to designate Union Station in Washington, DC, as 
``Harry S. Truman Union Station''; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am truly delighted that my colleagues 
from Missouri, Senators McCaskill and Blunt, have today introduced 
legislation to name Washington, DC's Union Station after our 33rd 
President Harry Truman, legislation of which I am proud to be an 
original cosponsor.
  It is long overdue that we honor President Truman in this way. While 
much, in life and in politics, loses its luster as time passes, the 
Truman Presidency has only grown in stature and historical significance 
over the decades. There are many reasons for this, but let me focus on 
just a few.
  First, history has shown the significance and wisdom of Truman's 
leadership in forging America's post-war foreign policy consensus. 
Truman and America understood the hard lesson of World War II: that a 
failure to engage in the world could have tragic consequences for our 
Nation, for our friends and allies, and for humanity. He understood the 
importance to the free world of helping to rebuild our chief enemies in 
that war, Germany and Japan. He understood the importance of working 
across party lines to build and maintain a consensus for these policies 
so that they did not depend on any one President or party to continue.
  We in Michigan are especially proud of the role that our Senator 
Vandenberg, a Republican, played in helping to build this consensus 
along with a Democratic President. Their hard work resulted in one of 
our Nation's most lasting and important achievements, ensuring 
America's enduring role in leading a rising tide of freedom around the 
world.
  A second aspect of the Truman legacy is his commitment to open, 
ethical and responsive government. He achieved public notice in the 
Senate as chairman of a committee tasked with fighting fraud and waste 
in defense contracting during World War II. He was among the earliest 
Washington politicians to call for lobbying reform. Ever since Truman's 
time, any government official who has sought to deflect responsibility 
or accountability in that time-honored political tradition of buck-
passing has suffered in comparison to the Truman policy that ``The Buck 
Stops Here.''
  Lastly, I will mention this: Harry Truman was a simple man. He was 
regularly described as ``plain''--and to his detractors, this was no 
compliment--but he wore it as a badge of honor. He understood that this 
Nation was built on the hard work, dedication and commitment of 
ordinary working people--because he came from ordinary working people. 
He talked straight, often bluntly. He demonstrated that one could rise 
to the highest office in the land based not on clever rhetoric or by 
currying favor, but by charting the best course for our Nation and 
clearly explaining that course to the people we all serve. He proved 
that wisdom is in the power of our ideas--nothing more and nothing 
less.
  It was a train that carried Harry Truman on his ``Give 'em Hell, 
Harry!'' whistle-stop tour during the 1948 campaign. It was from a 
train that he held up that famous headline--``Dewey Defeats Truman''--
that serves to this day as a rallying cry for the underdog. He rode the 
train from Union Station a lot, going home to be with his beloved wife 
Bess. So naming the train station of our Nation's capital, within sight 
of the Capitol where he served so well, is a fitting tribute.
  I join my Missouri colleagues in urging the Senate to adopt this 
legislation and pay due honor to President Harry Truman.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. Manchin):
  S. 2310. A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 
coins in commemoration of Mother's Day; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Mother's Day Commemorative Coin Act. I am proud to be joined by Senator 
Manchin in this important effort.
  Mother's Day is a special event for all West Virginians because this 
annual tribute to mothers began in our state. In 1908, a West Virginia 
woman by the name of Anna Jarvis petitioned her local church to declare 
May 9th as Mother's Day. She hoped that this holiday would serve as a 
day to remember and honor our mothers, and to promote peace and 
understanding. Within a year, all 46 States celebrated Mother's Day in 
some fashion, and in 1914, Congress and the President declared the 
second Sunday of May ``Mother's Day.'' This May 9 will mark the 
centennial for the national recognition of Mother's Day, and this bill 
provides an opportunity to commemorate this important holiday and 
further recognize the millions of American mothers whose essential role 
in all of our lives canna be overstated.
  The legislation I am introducing today would recognize Mother's Day 
by authorizing the Treasury to mint a commemorative Mother's Day coin. 
Profits generated from the sale of these coins would be donated to the 
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Osteoporosis 
Foundation. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has advanced cures 
for catastrophic pediatric diseases through research and treatment; and 
the National Osteoporosis Foundation is considered our Nation's leading 
voluntary health organization.
  In the U.S. alone, 10 million people have osteoporosis, and 80 
percent of those who suffer from this disease are women. This 
legislation not only honors our nation's mothers, but also helps to 
raise funds to fight a serious disease that disproportionately impacts 
women. Thousands of mothers and their children have benefited from the 
efforts of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National 
Osteoporosis Foundation, and they are well-deserving of our support. 
Therefore, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation to 
honor every mother in our country.
  I can think of no better way to celebrate Mother's Day than by 
helping to promote the health of American mothers and their children.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REED:
  S. 2312. A bill to amend titles 5, 10, and 32, United States Code, to 
eliminate inequities in the treatment of National Guard technicians, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.

[[Page 7594]]


  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I introduce the National Guard 
Technician Equity Act to address inconsistencies in the dual-status 
technician program.
  Over 48,000 National Guard dual-status technicians serve our nation. 
They are a distinct group of workers--as civilians, they work for the 
reserve components, performing administrative duties, providing 
training, and maintaining and repairing equipment. However, as a 
condition of their civilian position, they are also required to 
maintain military status--attending weekend drills and annual training, 
deploying overseas, and responding to domestic disasters and 
emergencies--thereby creating their ``dual-status.''
  As a result, dual-status technicians are caught between the 
provisions that govern the Federal civilian workforce and the military 
in numerous ways. First, under existing law, a dual-status technician 
who is no longer fit for military duty must be fired from their 
technician position, even if they are still fully capable of performing 
their civilian duties. This bill would give technicians the option of 
remaining in their civilian position if they have 20 years of service 
as a dual-status technician, so that the experience and skills of these 
dedicated employees will not be lost.
  Second, dual-status technicians do not have the same appeal rights as 
most other Federal employees, including those civilians in other 
Department of Defense positions. Federal employees who are covered by a 
collective bargaining agreement have the right to file a grievance and 
proceed to arbitration, or file a case with the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, MSPB. Currently, dual-status technicians may appeal 
to the Adjutant General in their state, but not to any neutral third 
party. This bill would allow them to also appeal to the MSPB for 
grievances unrelated to their military service.
  Third, most reserve component members are able to obtain health care 
coverage through the TRICARE Reserve Select program. However, dual-
status technicians are ineligible, despite their mandatory military 
status and reserve service, because they can participate in the Federal 
Employees Health Benefit Program, FEHBP. FEHBP plans can be more 
expensive than TRICARE Reserve Select, thereby adding costs and 
limiting health care options for these Guard technicians. My 
legislation simply calls for the Government Accountability Office to 
study the feasibility of converting the coverage for National Guard 
dual-status technicians from FEHBP to TRICARE Reserve Select.
  The National Guard Technician Equity Act also allows technicians to 
receive overtime pay and requires the Secretary of Defense to report to 
Congress on the adequacy of leave time provided to Federal employees 
who are members of the National Guard for required military training.
  I urge my colleagues to support and cosponsor the National Guard 
Technician Equity Act, and join me in pressing for inclusion of 
provisions of this bill in the National Defense Authorization Act.

                          ____________________