[Senate Report 111-344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 637
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-344
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INTERNATIONAL PROTECTING GIRLS BY PREVENTING CHILD MARRIAGE ACT OF 2010
_______
October 26 (legislative day, October 1), 2010.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of Septemer 29, 2010
Mr. Kerry, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 987]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under
consideration the bill (S. 987) to protect girls in developing
countries through the prevention of child marriage, and for
other purposes, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................2
IV. Cost Estimate....................................................2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................4
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 987 is to protect girls in developing
countries through the prevention of child marriage.
II. COMMITTEE ACTION
Senator Durbin introduced S. 987 on May 6, 2009. On
September 21, 2010, the committee ordered the bill, amended in
the nature of a substitute, reported favorably by voice vote.
Changes in the substitute included merging section 5 on
assistance to prevent the incidence of childhood marriage in
developing countries with section 6 on the strategy to prevent
child marriage in developing countries; modifying the deadlines
for implementation of the multi-year strategy and for
submission of the report to Congress detailing the
implementation of said strategy; and removing section 9 on the
authorization of appropriations for such sums as may be
necessary for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
III. DISCUSSION
The stated purpose of S. 987 is to protect girls in
developing countries through the prevention of child marriage.
The bill finds that child marriage is a violation of article 16
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its practice
undermines U.S. investments in foreign assistance to promote
education and skills building for girls, reduce maternal and
child mortality, halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS, and prevent
gender-based violence.
Through S. 987, the President is authorized to provide
assistance to prevent the incidence of child marriage in
developing countries, and to promote the educational, health,
economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women.
Priority should be given to areas or regions in developing
countries in which 40 percent or more of girls under the age of
18 are married. The committee intends for the bill to support
activities that expand and replicate successful community-based
programs to prevent the incidence of child marriage and that
establish pilot projects to prevent child marriage. The bill
does not authorize any new funds.
S. 987 requires the President to establish a multi-year
strategy to prevent child marriage in developing countries,
which shall be implemented not later than one year after the
date of enactment of this Act. Not later than three years after
the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit
to Congress a report that includes a description of the
implementation of said strategy, examples of best practices or
programs to prevent child marriage in developing countries, and
an assessment of current U.S. funded efforts to prevent child
marriage in developing countries.
The committee intends for the President to work with the
Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development
to collect data on the incidence of child marriage in countries
that receive U.S. foreign or development assistance, as well as
on the impact of the incidence of child marriage and the age at
marriage on progress in meeting key development goals. Section
7 of the bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to
include in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
of the Department of State a description of child marriage in
countries where child marriage is prevalent at rates at or
above 40 percent in at least one sub-national region.
IV. COST ESTIMATE
In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the
Congressional Budget Office.
United States Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, October 7, 2010.
Hon. John F. Kerry,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 987, the
International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act
of 2010.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita
D'Monte.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
cc: Hon. Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Minority Member
------
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
October 7, 2010.
S. 987
International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010
AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON
SEPTEMBER 21, 2010
S. 987 would authorize the President to provide assistance
to developing countries to reduce the incidence of child
marriage and would require him to develop and implement a
multiyear strategy to prevent such marriages and to promote the
empowerment of girls. CBO estimates that implementing the bill
would cost $67 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting S. 987 would
not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-
go procedures do not apply to this legislation.
S. 987 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
The estimated budgetary impact of S. 987 is shown in the
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within
budget function 150 (international affairs). For this estimate,
CBO assumes that the estimated authorizations will be
appropriated each fiscal year and that outlays will follow
historical spending patterns for similar and existing programs.
Changes in Spending Due to S. 987
By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011-2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization Level...................... 21 21 21 22 22 108
Estimated Outlays.................................. 1 10 16 19 20 67
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Components do not sum to totals because of rounding.
The bill would require the President to target assistance
to countries that have rates of child marriage exceeding 40
percent and to replicate or expand successful efforts to
prevent child marriages. According to the International Center
for Research on Women, 21 countries--mostly in Africa--have
rates of child marriage that are at least that high. Based on
information from the U.S. Agency for International Development
on current programs to prevent child marriage, CBO estimates
that the agency would require annual appropriations of $1
million per country to implement similar or expanded programs
in the 21 high-priority countries, for a total of $21 million
in 2011 and $107 million over the 2011-2015 period. Assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that
implementing the bill would cost $66 million over the 2011-2015
period. (The remainder would be spent after 2015.)
CBO estimates that the administrative costs of implementing
the bill's requirements to develop and carry out a multiyear
strategy to prevent child marriage and to submit reports to the
Congress would cost less than $500,000 each year and would
total $1 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming the
availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 12 of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill,
as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be
omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in
roman).
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
* * * * * * *
Sec. 116. Human Rights.--(a)
* * * * * * *
(g) The report required by subsection (d) shall include for
each country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at
or above 40 percent in at least one subnational region, a
description of the status of the practice of child marriage in
such country. In this subsection, the term ``child marriage''
means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum age
for marriage stipulated in law in the country in which such
girl or boy is a resident.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 502A. * * * [Repealed--1996]
Sec. 502B. Human Rights.--(a)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(i) The report required by subsection (d) shall include for
each country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at
or above 40 percent in at least one subnational region, a
description of the status of the practice of child marriage in
such country. In this subsection, the term ``child marriage''
means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum age
for marriage stipulated in law in the country in which such
girl or boy is a resident.