S.Amdt. 4586

SA 4586. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Ernst, Ms. Duckworth, Ms.
Collins, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Peters) submitted
an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3867 submitted by
Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 4350, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1220L. STATUS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Since May 2021, the escalation of violent conflict in
Afghanistan has forcibly displaced an estimated 655,000
civilians, and 80 percent of those forced to flee are women
and children.
(2) Since regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021,
the Taliban have taken actions reminiscent of their brutal
rule in the late 1990s, including by cracking down on
protesters, detaining and beating journalists, reestablishing
the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of
Vice, and requiring women to study at universities in gender-
segregated classrooms while wearing Islamic attire.
(3) Until the Taliban assumed control of the country in
August 2021, the women and girls of Afghanistan had achieved
much since

[[Page S8103]]

2001, even as insecurity, poverty, underdevelopment, and
patriarchal norms continued to limit their rights and
opportunities in much of Afghanistan.
(4) Through strong support from the United States and the
international community--
(A) female enrollment in public schools in Afghanistan
continued to increase through 2015, with an estimated high of
50 percent of school age girls attending; and
(B) by 2019--
(i) women held political leadership positions, and women
served as ambassadors; and
(ii) women served as professors, judges, prosecutors,
defense attorneys, police, military members, health
professionals, journalists, humanitarian and developmental
aid workers, and entrepreneurs.
(5) Efforts to empower women and girls in Afghanistan
continue to serve the national interests of Afghanistan and
the United States because women are sources of peace and
economic progress.
(6) With the return of Taliban control, the United States
has little ability to preserve the human rights of women and
girls in Afghanistan, and those women and girls may again
face the intimidation and marginalization they faced under
the last Taliban regime.
(7) Women and girls in Afghanistan are again facing gender-
based violence, including--
(A) forced marriage;
(B) intimate partner and domestic violence;
(C) sexual harassment;
(D) sexual violence, including rape;
(E) denial of resources; and
(F) emotional and psychological violence.
(8) Gender-based violence has always been a significant
problem in Afghanistan and is expected to become more
widespread with the Taliban in control. In 2020, even before
the Taliban assumed control of the country, Human Rights
Watch projected that 87 percent of Afghan women and girls
will experience at least one form of gender-based violence in
their lifetime, with 62 percent experiencing multiple
incidents of such violence.
(9) Prior to the Taliban takeover in August 2021,
approximately 7,000,000 people in Afghanistan lacked or had
limited access to essential health services as a result of
inadequate public health coverage, weak health systems, and
conflict-related interruptions in care.
(10) Women and girls faced additional challenges, as their
access to life-saving services, such as emergency obstetric
services, was limited due to a shortage of female medical
staff, cultural barriers, stigma and fears of reprisals
following sexual violence, or other barriers to mobility,
including security fears.
(11) Only approximately 50 percent of pregnant women and
girls in Afghanistan deliver their children in a health
facility with a professional attendant, which increases the
risk of complications in childbirth and preventable maternal
mortality.
(12) Food insecurity in Afghanistan is also posing a
variety of threats to women and girls, as malnutrition
weakens their immune systems and makes them more susceptible
to infections, complications during pregnancy, and risks
during childbirth.
(13) With the combined impacts of ongoing conflict and
COVID-19, Afghan households increasingly resort to child
marriage, forced marriage, and child labor to address food
insecurity and other effects of extreme poverty.
(14) In Afghanistan, the high prevalence of anemia among
adolescent girls reduces their ability to survive childbirth,
especially when coupled with high rates of child marriage and
forced marriage and barriers to accessing safe health
services and information.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) since 2001, organizations and networks promoting the
empowerment of women and girls have been important engines of
social, economic, and political development in Afghanistan;
(2) any future political order in Afghanistan should secure
the political, economic, and social gains made by Afghan
women and work to increase the equal treatment of women and
girls and improve the safe access for women and girls to
essential services and information through laws and policies
pertaining to public and private life;
(3) respecting the human rights of all people is essential
to securing lasting peace and sustainable development in
Afghanistan;
(4) in cooperation with international partners, the United
States must endeavor to preserve the hard-won gains made in
Afghanistan during the past two decades, particularly as
related to the social, economic and political empowerment of
women and girls in society;
(5) the continued provision of humanitarian assistance in
Afghanistan should be targeted toward the most vulnerable,
including for the protection, education, and well-being of
women and girls;
(6) immediate and ongoing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan
can only be met by a humanitarian response that includes
formal agreements between local nongovernmental organizations
and international partners that promotes the safe access and
participation of female staff at all levels and across
functional roles among all humanitarian actors; and
(7) a lack of aid and essential services would exacerbate
the current humanitarian crisis and serve to reinforce gender
inequalities and power imbalances in Afghanistan.
(c) Policy of the United States Regarding the Rights of
Women and Girls of Afghanistan.--
(1) In general.--It is the policy of the United States--
(A) to continue to support the human rights of women and
girls in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of the United
States Armed Forces from Afghanistan, including through
mechanisms to hold all parties publicly accountable for
violations of international humanitarian law and human rights
violations against women and girls;
(B) to strongly oppose any weakening of the rights of women
and girls in Afghanistan;
(C) to use the voice and influence of the United States at
the United Nations to promote, respect, and uphold the human
rights of the women and girls of Afghanistan, including the
right to safely work;
(D) to identify individuals who violate the human rights of
women and girls in Afghanistan, as those rights are defined
by international human rights standards, such as by
committing acts of murder, lynching, and grievous domestic
violence against women, and to press for bringing those
individuals to justice;
(E) to systematically consult with Afghan women and girls
on their needs and priorities in the development,
implementation, and monitoring of humanitarian action,
including women and girls who are part of the Afghan diaspora
community; and
(F) to ensure all humanitarian action is informed by--
(i) a gender analysis that identifies forms of inequality
and oppression; and
(ii) the collection, analysis, and use of data
disaggregated by sex and age.
(d) Humanitarian Assistance and Afghan Women.--The
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development should work to ensure that Afghan women are
employed and enabled to work in the delivery of humanitarian
assistance in Afghanistan, to the extent practicable.
(e) Report on Women and Girls in Afghanistan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter
through 2024, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes the
following:
(A) An assessment of the status of women and girls in
Afghanistan following the departure of United States and
partner military forces, including with respect to access to
primary and secondary education, jobs, health care, and legal
protections and status.
(B) An assessment of the political and civic participation
of women and girls in Afghanistan.
(C) An assessment of the prevalence of gender-based
violence in Afghanistan.
(D) A report on funds for United States foreign assistance
obligated or expended during the period covered by the report
to advance gender equality and the human rights of women and
girls in Afghanistan, including funds directed toward local
organizations promoting the rights of women and girls.
(2) Assessment.--
(A) Input.--The assessment described in paragraph (1)(A)
shall include the input of--
(i) Afghan women and girls;
(ii) organizations employing and working with Afghan women
and girls; and
(iii) humanitarian organizations providing assistance in
Afghanistan.
(B) Safety and confidentiality.--In carrying out the
assessment described in paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure the safety
and confidentiality of personal information of each
individual who provides information from within Afghanistan.
(3) Definition of appropriate committees of congress.--In
this subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of
Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
______