House Committee Approves Measures to Support Women, Fight Poverty

On July 31, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation focusing on international issues that affect women. The committee passed, by voice vote, several measures en bloc, including resolutions pertaining to gender-based persecutions and Central American violence, and a bill pertaining to global poverty; the committee also approved, by voice vote, a bill relating to tuberculosis prevention.

Gender-Based Persecutions

Sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), H. Res. 32 denounces gender-based persecutions, such as female genital mutilation, “honor” killings, domestic violence, acid burning, and dowry deaths. The committee passed the resolution, after adopting a substitute amendment, by voice vote, by Rep. Jackson Lee.

The resolution includes a number of findings, such as:

in many parts of the world, there is a culture of violence and discrimination that denies women equal rights and legitimizes the exploitation of women for personal gratification or political purposes and gain;
the United Nations Secretary General has declared that rape is a recognized tool of war;
Two hundred women in Bangladesh are horribly disfigured [each year] when their spurned husbands or suitors burn them with acid;
in North Africa, 6,000 women are genitally mutilated each day;
more than 7,000 women in India will be killed [each year] by their families and in-laws in disputes over dowries;
more than 15,000 women will be sold [this year] as sexual slaves in China; and
in the United States, a woman is raped every six minutes and a woman is battered every 15 seconds.Central American Violence
Sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), H. Res. 564 recognizes that violence in Central America poses a threat to peace and stability in the region. The measure calls on the United States to combat violence perpetrated by criminal gangs from Central America and Mexico, and encourages the U.S. to meet with countries in Central America to work cooperatively to combat crime and violence.

The resolution contains several findings, including:
Guatemala has experienced a surge in female murders during the past three years, with many of those murders allegedly committed by drug traffickers and other organized criminal groups; and
violence between partners, particularly violence by men against their wives or girlfriends, is widespread in Central America, and an International Violence Against Women Survey comparing selected countries in Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia found that 60 percent of women in Costa Rica often considered the least violent country in Central America reported having experienced domestic violence during their lives.Global Poverty
Sponsored by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the Global Poverty Act (H.R. 1302) would require the president to declare as United States policy the reduction of global poverty, elimination of extreme poverty, and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people in the world who live on less than $1 per day.

The bill calls upon the administration to develop a comprehensive strategy that includes continued investment in existing initiatives, such as the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act (P.L. 108-25) and the Millennium Challenge Act (P.L. 1008-199); or coordination with other development goals, such as combating the spread of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria; increasing access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation; and reducing hunger and malnutrition.

Tuberculosis Prevention

The Stop Tuberculosis (TB) Now Act (H.R. 1567) would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195) to increase assistance for the prevention, treatment, and control of TB.

Recognizing that TB is the leading killer of women of reproductive age, H.R. 1567, also sponsored by Rep. Engel, would authorize no more than $400 million in FY2008 and no more than $550 million in FY2009 to reduce by half the number of TB deaths and incidents by 2015. H.R. 1567 also would authorize $70 million in FY2008 and $100 million in FY2009 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out global TB activities.

During consideration of the measure, the committee adopted, by voice vote, a substitute amendment by Rep. Engel that increases the authorization level from $330 million to $400 million in FY2008 and from $450 million to $550 million in FY2009.