[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 50 (Monday, December 17, 2001)]
[Pages 1780-1782]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act of 2001

December 12, 2001

    Thank you all. For several years, the people of Afghanistan have 
suffered under one of the most brutal regimes--brutal regimes--in modern 
history, a regime allied with terrorists and a regime at war with women. 
Thanks to our military and our allies and the brave fighters of 
Afghanistan, the Taliban regime is coming to an end.
    Yet, our responsibilities to the people of Afghanistan have not 
ended. We work for a new era of human rights and human dignity in that 
country. The agreement reached in Bonn last week means that in 10 days 
the international community will have a new partner, an interim 
government of a new Afghanistan.
    We join those in the interim government who seek education and 
better health for every Afghan woman and child. And today, with the 
Afghan Women and Children Relief Act, we take an important step toward 
that goal.
    I want to thank Laura for her introduction, and I want to thank her 
for her steadiness during this crisis. I want to thank Farida for her 
courage. I want to thank the Members of the House and the Senate who 
sponsored this piece of legislation, and all the Members of Congress who 
are here today.
    I want to thank Sima Wali, who is the president and CEO of Refugee 
Women in Development, a key advocate for women's

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rights at the conference of Bonn negotiations last week.
    I thank the members of my Cabinet who are here, Secretary Veneman 
and Administrator Whitman, thank you all for being here. I want to thank 
the ambassadors who are here representing the diplomatic corps. Thank 
you all for coming. And I also want to thank Billie Holladay for opening 
up this beautiful museum for all of us to come and celebrate this 
important piece of legislation.
    America is beginning to realize that the dreams of the terrorists 
and the Taliban were a waking nightmare for Afghan women and their 
children. The Taliban murdered teenagers for laughing in the presence of 
soldiers. They jailed children as young as 10 years old and tortured 
them for supposed crimes of their parents.
    Afghan women were banned from speaking or laughing loudly. They were 
banned from riding bicycles or attending school. They were denied basic 
health care and were killed on suspicion of adultery. One news magazine 
reports, ``It's hard to find a woman in Kabul who does not remember a 
beating at the hands of the Taliban.''
    In Afghanistan, America not only fights for our security, but we 
fight for the values we hold dear. We strongly reject the Taliban way. 
We strongly reject their brutality toward women and children. They not 
only violate basic human rights; they're barbaric in their indefensible 
meting of justice. It's wrong. Their attitude is wrong for any culture. 
Their attitude is wrong for any religion.
    You know, life in Afghanistan wasn't always this way. Before the 
Taliban came, women played an incredibly important part of that society. 
Seventy percent of the nation's teachers were women. Half of the 
government workers in Afghanistan were women, and 40 percent of the 
doctors in the capital of Kabul were women. The Taliban destroyed that 
progress. And in the process, they offered us a clear image of the world 
they and the terrorists would like to impose on the rest of us.
    The central goal of the terrorists is the brutal oppression of 
women, and not only the women of Afghanistan. The terrorists who help 
rule Afghanistan are found in dozens and dozens of countries around the 
world. And that is the reason this great Nation, with our friends and 
allies, will not rest until we bring them all to justice.
    America is so proud of our military and our allies, because like the 
rest of us here, we've seen the pictures of joy when we liberated city 
after city in Afghanistan. And none of us will ever forget the laughter 
and the music and the cheering and the clapping at a stadium that was 
once used for public execution. Children now fly kites, and they play 
games. Women now come out of their homes from house arrest, able to walk 
the streets without chaperons. ``It feels like we've all been released 
from prison,'' said one young person in Kabul, ``that the whole of 
Afghanistan has been released from prison.''
    This is an important achievement. Yet, a liberated Afghanistan must 
now be rebuilt so that it will never again practice terror at home or 
abroad. This work begins by ensuring the essential rights of all 
Afghans.
    This week is Human Rights Week, when we celebrate the adoption of 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than a century ago--a 
half-century ago. The preamble to that document declares that the people 
of the world reaffirm their ``faith in fundamental human rights, in the 
dignity and worth of the human person, and in equal rights of men and 
women.'' This is a great goal, and that's why I'm so pleased that 
Afghanistan's new government will respect the rights of all people, 
women and men.
    America and our allies will do our part in the rebuilding of 
Afghanistan. We learned our lessons from the past. We will not leave 
until the mission is complete. We will work with international 
institutions on long-term development--on the long-term development of 
Afghanistan. We will provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the 
people of Afghanistan.
    After years of civil war and misrule by the Taliban, this is going 
to be an incredibly difficult winter in Afghanistan. We're doing what we 
can to help alleviate the suffering. In the month of November, the 
United Nations World Food Program, with our strong support, provided 
enough supplies to feed 4.3 million Afghans. And the Defense Department 
will continue to make sure that

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food is delivered in remote regions of that impoverished, poor, starving 
country.
    The bill I sign today extends and strengthens our efforts. The 
Afghan Women and Children Relief Act commits the United States to 
providing education and medical assistance to Afghan women and children 
and to Afghan refugees in surrounding countries.
    The overwhelming support for this legislation sends a clear message: 
As we drive out the Taliban and the terrorists, we are determined to 
lift up the people of Afghanistan. The women and children of Afghanistan 
have suffered enough. This great Nation will work hard to bring them 
hope and help. To the bill's sponsors, thank you from the bottom of our 
hearts. You show the true compassion of this great land.
    May God bless the women and children of Afghanistan.

Note: The President spoke at 11:35 a.m. in the Great Hall of the 
National Museum of Women in the Arts. In his remarks, he referred to 
Afghan human rights activist Farida; and Wilhelmina ``Billie'' Cole 
Holladay, founder and chair of the board, the National Museum of Women 
in the Arts. S. 1573, approved December 12, was assigned Public Law No. 
107-81.