S.Amdt. 4808

SA 4808. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Durbin, Ms.
Collins, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Peters, Mr. Cornyn, and Ms.
Duckworth) 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. 1216. 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 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; and
(E) 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, some studies
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 emergency and primary 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 prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum care 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 prenatal and
childbirth services.
(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;
(3) respecting the internationally recognized 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 would exacerbate the current humanitarian
crisis and harm the well-being of women and girls 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 internationally recognized
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 violations of such rights against women
and girls;
(B) to strongly oppose any weakening of the political or
economic 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
internationally recognized human rights of the women and
girls of Afghanistan, including the right to safely work;
(D) to identify individuals who violate the internationally
recognized human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan,
such as by committing acts of murder, lynching, and grievous
domestic violence against women, and to press for bringing
those individuals to justice; and
(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.
(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, and make available to the
public, 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, primary and emergency
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

[[Page S8497]]

gender equality and the internationally recognized human
rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, including funds
directed toward local organizations promoting such rights of
women and girls, that includes the following:
(i) The amounts awarded to principal recipients and sub-
recipients for such purposes during the reporting period.
(ii) A description of each program for which such funds are
used for such purposes.
(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, including faith-based
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.
______