Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.

Madam Speaker, on the first of this month, I reintroduced the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act (H.R. 1287), which will provide for the expedited reunification of the families of our Filipino World War II veterans.

This body has many times heard accounts of the bravery of the Filipino veterans: how they fought shoulder to shoulder with American servicemen; how they sacrificed for the same just cause. For too long, we have ignored the promise we made to those men to provide benefits and care equal to that provided to our own soldiers.

As the House prepares for debate on comprehensive immigration reform, let us remember the broken promises made to our Filipino World War II veterans and provide for a meaningful way to make amends by expediting the immigration petitions of their sons and daughters.

I would like to submit into the Congressional Record an article that recently appeared in the Washington Post that humanizes the intent of my bill.

[From the Washington Post, Mar. 4, 2007]

Hope for Amends to Filipino Immigrants

(By N.C. Aizenman)

Amid the wrangling over immigration reform, virtually

everyone in Congress appears to agree on one point: Filipino-

born veterans who fought alongside U.S. troops during World

War II deserve a break.

Denied the right to immigrate to the United States until

1990, they came hoping that their children could follow them

here later, just as other groups have done. But the adult

children have been required to wait twice as long--up to 16

years--as anyone else. With the veterans often too old and

sick to travel home, many have died while waiting to be

reunited with their families.

Now, after several longtime backers have risen to key

positions in Congress, Filipino American advocates are

hopeful that legislation will be pushed through to exempt the

veterans' children from the immigration delay. They also are

optimistic about a potentially more controversial bill that

would grant Filipino veterans military pensions.

About 5,000 veterans in the United States would stand to

benefit from a change in immigration provisions, and an

additional 10,000 in the Philippines could be eligible for

pensions.

To many in the 2-million-strong Filipino American

community, the issue represents a chance to cement their

political identity in a nation where they have long felt

invisible, even though Filipinos rank second, behind

Mexicans, in the number of immigrants living in the United

States.

``Historically, we Filipinos have always been looked down

on as your little brown brothers--as these acquiescent people

who would just accept anything Uncle Sam would do to them,''

said Jon Melegrito, communications director of the National

Federation of Filipino American Associations. ``This is about

asserting who we are as a people and how we served this

country. . . . It's a call to action to stop acting like

colonial slaves and to start acting like first-class

citizens.''

The effort builds on an association with the United States

that dates to 1898, when the United States acquired the

Philippines from Spain after winning the Spanish-American

War.

Laws and discriminatory practices against all Asian

immigrants kept Filipino numbers in the United States low

through the first half of the 1900s. But in the Philippines,

many residents were taught English and raised to think of

themselves as something akin to Americans.

Celestino Almeda, 90, a veteran who lives in Alexandria,

remembered that the director of his elementary school in

Manila led students in a pledge of allegiance to the American

flag every morning.

``We also celebrated all the holidays: Washington's

birthday, Armistice Day,'' Almeda said. ``In our mind, it was

like America was our mother country.''

When Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941, more than

200,000 Filipinos joined Americans in waging a fierce

resistance, enduring such horrors as the Bataan Death March

and the grueling guerrilla campaign that followed.

Technically, the Filipino fighters were under overall U.S.

command. But within months of the Allied victory, Congress

stripped most of them of their rights as foreign veterans of

U.S. forces--including the opportunity to become U.S.

citizens--on the grounds that the Philippines was about to be

granted independence.

Even so, the Philippines continued its close affiliation

with the United States. Thousands of Filipinos joined the

U.S. Navy, which until recently had major bases there. By

1970, there were more Filipinos in the U.S. Navy than in the

Philippine Navy.

And, after 1965, when Congress repealed the nationality

quota system that had practically prohibited Asians from

immigrating, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos streamed in.

Ranging from unskilled workers and nannies to nurses and

professionals who came in on occupational preference visas,

the new arrivals immediately formed social, cultural and

professional organizations. Before long, they were rising to

prominent positions in government, unions and the military.

Several won elected office, including in Prince George's

County, where a sizable community settled.

Yet when it came to turning their clout into political

activism on behalf of Filipino American causes, many of the

immigrants hesitated, said Bing Cardenas Branigin, 50, a

former regional chairman of the Filipino American federation.

``There was this sense that you shouldn't make trouble,

that you shouldn't contradict the government,'' she said.

``You should just pay your taxes and send your kids to school

and keep quiet.''

That began to change in the mid-1970s when anger spread

over the repressive policies of the Filipino president,

Ferdinand

Marcos. As much as their opposition to Marcos galvanized the

Filipino American community, it also caused rifts with those

who supported Marcos.

After Marcos was ousted, community leaders looked to

refocus their newfound energy on a more unifying issue. The

fight for veterans' equity was a natural choice.

Since then, the veterans have won some of the benefits they

lost after the war. Most notably, in 1990, Congress granted

Filipino World War II veterans the same opportunity to

naturalize offered to all other foreign nationals who served

in the U.S. armed forces.

But the Filipino veterans remain ineligible for a military

pension, forcing many of the more than 24,000 elderly

veterans who became U.S. citizens after 1990 to live off food

stamps and Supplemental Security Income payments.

Joaquin Tejada, 84, a former guerrilla fighter who survived

two years resisting the Japanese from jungle hideouts, said

he now struggles to get by with his $545 monthly SSI check.

The rent for the two-bedroom apartment he shares with another

Filipino World War II veteran in Columbia Heights takes $275.

``By the end of the month, it's hard to buy even basic

food,'' said Tejada, who proudly sported an American flag tie

during an interview.

Then there is the l6-year wait veterans face if they wish

to bring over their adult children, an unintended consequence

of the 1965 law lifting the quotas that had prevented most

Asians from immigrating.

In their place, Congress introduced a complicated system

meant to offer every country the same number of family

reunification visas. But because Filipino applicants far

outnumber the yearly slots allotted to them, they face the

longest delays--22 years to sponsor an adult brother or

sister, for instance, compared with 11 years for applicants

of most other nationalities.

Candida Romulo, 72, said she and her husband, Bayani, a

veteran who became a lawyer in Manila, would not have

naturalized and moved to Oxon Hill had they known that the

wait to sponsor their grown children would be so long.

``We did it because we wanted to give them the

opportunities of living in this country. It was going to be

our gift to them,'' Romulo said during an interview in a

living room crammed with photographs of her four children.

Soon after the couple's arrival, Bayani developed a medical

condition requiring frequent dialysis, making visits to the

Philippines impossible. Because of their pending residency

applications, his children were unable to get visas to visit

him.

When Bayani suffered a severe stroke in September, his

eldest son wasn't able to relay his final words to his father

over the phone before he died.

``The receiver couldn't reach his bed in the ICU,'' Candida

Romulo said. ``So I told my husband, `Your son says that he

loves you very much and that he's so proud that you are his

father.' My husband couldn't speak, but I could tell that he

understood, because there were tears in his eyes.''

Now Romulo worries that her son may never gain entry to the

United States, because if a sponsor dies while the visa

application is pending, there is a chance that the

application will be annulled.

But she said she is still praying that Congress will pass

the legislation for the sake of those veterans who remain

alive.

``If that happens, I know my husband will be very happy

about it, even if he is already in heaven,'' she said.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 149, which supports the goals of International Women's Day (IWD). International Women's Day is a day on which millions around the world come together to commemorate their continued struggle for equality, justice, peace, and development for all women around the world.

International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.

Madam Speaker, 1975 was designated as `International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organizations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on March 8 by holding large-scale events that honor women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

There are over 3,000,000,000 women in the world, representing 51 percent of the world's population; we need to celebrate and emphasize the important roles that women play around the world.

Throughout history women have faithfully and fervently forged a strong fight to tear down the walls of discrimination, bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots, and lay the foundation of a towering edifice of equality and justice. Some of these strong soldiers for justice include Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Rosa Parks. I am extremely proud of the recent passage of H.R. 4510, a bill on which Senator Hillary Clinton and I worked diligently together to pay tribute to the enormous contributions Sojourner Truth made in the interests of all women. H.R. 4510 directs the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and to display the bust in a suitable location in the Capitol. On behalf of women in this country, and all around the world, it was important to urge the recognition and honor of abolitionist Sojourner Truth with the addition of her likeness to the statue commemorating women's suffrage in the United States Capitol.

Women continue to play the prominent role in caring for families within the home as well as serving as economic earners. Women are defined by their versatility. Women not only cook, clean, and care for their children, but they also own and operate businesses, teach our schoolchildren, drive buses, create art, practice medicine and law, and legislate, as well as perform in many other capacities.

All over the world women play important roles in the world of diplomacy and politics, contribute to the growth of economies, and improve the quality of the lives of their families, communities, and nations.

Madam Speaker, we recently celebrated the 2007 election of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House, a significant stride in the cause of promoting the advancement of women as leaders and major players in politics. We also witnessed the recent passage of H.R. 4510, a bill I proudly introduced which directed the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and to display the bust in a suitable location in the Capitol. On behalf of women in this country, and all around the world, it was important to urge the recognition and honor of abolitionist Sojourner Truth with the addition of her likeness to the statue commemorating women's suffrage in the United States Capitol. We also witnessed the 2006 election of Michelle Bachelet as the first female President of Chile; the 2006 election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first female President in Africa's history; and the 2005 election of Angela Merkel as the first female Chancellor of Germany, who will also serve as the second woman to chair a G8 summit beginning in 2007.

Women account for 80 percent of the world's 70 million micro- borrowers and 75 percent of the 28,000 United States loans supporting small businesses in Afghanistan are made to women, and 11 women are chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies.

In the United States, women are graduating from high school at higher rates and are earning bachelors degrees or higher degrees at greater rates than men, with 88 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 29 having obtained a high school diploma and 31 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 29 earning a bachelors degree or higher.

But in spite of tremendous gains, women still face political and economic obstacles, struggle for basic rights, face the threat of discrimination, and are targets of violence all over the world.

Worldwide women remain vastly underrepresented in national and local assemblies, accounting on average for less than 10 percent of the seats in parliament, except for in East Asia where the figure is approximately 18 to 19 percent. In no developing region do women hold more than 8 percent of the ministerial positions.

Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours and produce half of the world's food, yet earn only 1 percent of the world's income and own less than 1 percent of the world's property.

In the United States between 1995 and 2000, female managers earned less than their male counterparts in the 10 industries that employ the vast majority of all female employees. Of the 1,300,000,000 people living in poverty around the world, 70 percent are women and children.

Madam Speaker, we need to continue to support programs that ensure women and girls across the globe are empowered with an education so that they reach their performance potentials and therefore function as productive citizens of the world.

According to the United States Agency for International Development, two-thirds of the 876,000,000 illiterate individuals worldwide are women, two-thirds of the 125,000,000 school-aged children who are not attending school worldwide are girls, and girls are less likely to complete school than boys.

Women are particularly vulnerable to health problems and we must continue to fight to ensure that every woman around the world has access to adequate health care and health insurance.

Worldwide women account for half of all cases of HIV/AIDS, approximately 42,000,000 cases, and in countries with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, young women are at a higher risk than young men of contracting HIV. Globally, each year over 500,000 women die during childbirth and pregnancy.

We must also provide adequate protection and support systems that empower women to avoid or discontinue the victimization of abusive relationships. Domestic violence causes more deaths and disability among women between ages 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war. Worldwide, at least 1 out of every 3 women and girls has been beaten in her lifetime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 1 out of every 6 women and girls in the United States has been sexually abused in her lifetime.

Worldwide, 130,000,000 girls and young women have been subjected to female genital mutilation and it is estimated that 10,000 girls are at risk of being subjected to this practice in the United States. According to the Congressional Research Service and the Department of State, illegal trafficking in women and children for forced labor, domestic servitude, or sexual exploitation involves between 1 million and 2 million women and children each year, of whom 50,000 are transported into the United States. Between 75 and 80 percent of the world's 27,000,000 refugees are women and children.

In times and places of conflict and war, women and girls continue to be the focus of extreme violence and intimidation and face tremendous obstacles to legal recourse and justice.

Madam Speaker, March 8 has become known as International Women's Day for the last century, and is a day on which people, often divided by ethnicity, language, culture, and income, come together to celebrate a common struggle for women's equality, justice, and peace. For these reasons, the people of the United States have reason and should be eager to participate in International Women's Day.

I strongly support H. Res. 149.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res, 149, a resolution supporting International Women's Day on March 8, 2007. For several decades the international community has reserved this day to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women around the world. International Women's Day is also a time to recognize and remember the work we still have before us to achieve equal social and political rights for women.

Today, women all over the world are becoming leaders in every professional field imaginable. The achievements of women in politics are especially noteworthy. As we celebrate Women's History Month in the United States, it is my honor to recognize this important Day under the historic leadership of the first woman Speaker of the House, my fellow Californian, Nancy Pelosi.

The 110th Congress also marks the rise of six women to seven committee chair positions, the most ever held by women in any prior Congress:

Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald from California is chairing the House Committee on Administration;

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter from New York is chairing the House Rules Committee;

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez from New York is chairing the House Committee on Small Business;

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones from Ohio is chairing the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct;

Senator Dianne Feinstein from California is chairing the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration; and

Senator Barbara Boxer from California is chairing the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works and is currently Acting Chair for the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

These women all honor our Nation with their distinguished service and leadership.

I also want to pay special tribute to my distinguished colleague Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen who has achieved the distinction of becoming the first woman Ranking Member on this committee. We all benefit from her contributions and those of all of the women Members who are performing important responsibilities on the Committee of Foreign Affairs with honor and distinction.

Despite notable political progress for women in leadership positions in the U.S. and around the world, women continue to struggle for equal social and political rights; access to health care, education and work; and freedom from civil conflict, violence, human trafficking and various cultural practices that put women's lives at risk.

The theme for this year's International Women's Day captures a critical goal we all must share: ``ending impunity for violence against women and girls.''

While manifestations of violence against women and girls vary across social, economic, cultural and historical contexts, it is clear that violence against women and girls remains a devastating reality in all parts of the world. The global evidence is chilling. Violence against women is a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development and peace.

According to the United Nations:

Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women

worldwide, irrespective of region, culture, ethnicity,

education, class and religion. Violence against women is the

most common but least punished crime in the world.

The number of women forced or sold into prostitution is

estimated worldwide at anywhere between 700,000 and 4 million

per year. Profits from sex slavery are estimated at $7 to $l2

billion per year. The number of women trafficked into forced

labor put these numbers at even more astounding levels.

It is estimated that more than two million girls are

genitally mutilated per year.

Systematic rape continues to be used as a weapon of terror

in many of the world's recent conflicts--including Darfur,

Bosnia and Rwanda.

While international, regional and national legal and policy frameworks have been established, to address violence against women and girls, implementation of these laws and norms remains insufficient and inconsistent around the world. Gender inequality, poverty and endless cycles of violence are exacerbated as a result of failures to hold perpetrators of violence against women and girls accountable for their actions.

Eliminating violence against women remains one of the most serious and urgent challenges of our time. Each one of us has a duty to support and sustain a political and social environment where violence against women and girls is not tolerated; where friends, family members, neighbors, men and women, intervene to ensure these crimes and acts are not committed with impunity.

I will do everything in my power as chairman to ensure that every piece of legislation we consider in this Committee will improve the security, opportunity and prosperity of women and I know my colleagues will share this important goal.

I want to thank my colleague Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and the other cosponsors of this resolution for giving us this opportunity to recognize the importance of International Women's Day. I am proud to support this resolution and I urge all my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me and for her great support for this measure, and I also thank Representative Ros-Lehtinen for her help for a long time making this resolution possible today.

I do rise in support of H. Res. 149, the International Women's Day resolution. I want to also thank Representative Judy Biggert, who is the lead Republican sponsor, for her consistent support and work to bring this resolution to the House floor. We have introduced this resolution honoring women three times, and it has been a pleasure working with her over the years.

Also, as the vice chair of the Women's Caucus, I am honored to have this resolution to be the first of our top five priority agenda items to make it to the House floor with such remarkable bipartisan support under the leadership of the chairwomen, Lois Capps and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. I appreciate their help.

Each year, countries around the world mark March 8 as International Women's Day as a day to recognize the contributions and the impact that women have made to our world's history, to recognize those women who have worked for gender equality and to acknowledge the work that is yet to be done.

Over the years, women have made significant strides. Women all over the world and throughout history have consistently contributed to their economies, participated in their governments and improved the quality of life of their families and their Nations.

In 2007, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first woman in the history of the United States to be Speaker of the House. In 2006, I attended the inauguration of Michelle Bachelet, the first woman President of Chile, and visited in Liberia its President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf, the first woman President in Africa's history. In the 110th Congress, we have an all-time high of 74 women in Congress, a 35 percent increase from just 8 years ago. However, women still make up only 16 percent of the House of Representatives.

In the United States, we have made significant strides in education. In fact, women now graduate from high school at higher rates and earn bachelor's or higher degrees at greater rates than men. While that is true, yet two-thirds of the 876 million illiterate individuals in the world are women. That is, two-thirds of them are women. Two-thirds of the 125 million school-aged children who are not attending school worldwide are girls, and girls are less likely to complete school than boys elsewhere around the world.

Women are making progress in business, and women make up 11 of the current CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. However, more progress still needs to be made. While great strides have been made in business, women still earn less, own less and have less access to education and employment than men. Globally, while women work two-thirds of the world's working hours and produce one-half of the world's food, we still earn only 1 percent of the world's income and own less than 1 percent of the world's property. Of the 300 million people living in poverty, 70 percent are girls and women.

Although Congress passed the PROTECT Act, a good bipartisan bill to prevent trafficking, there are still millions of women and girls who are trafficked, physically abused, sexually abused or face the threat of violence every day. In Iraq, Darfur and Afghanistan, women and girls continue to be the targets of extreme violence, brutality and intimidation where they face overwhelming, if not insurmountable, obstacles to legal recourse and justice. And in times of war and conflict, although most women and children are not engaged in that conflict, they continue to suffer the most.

So, Madam Speaker, it is important that Congress recognize the importance of March 8 and participate with the rest of the world in celebrating International Women's Day. Hopefully, the passage of this critical resolution will help raise awareness of the work we need to do and will help women continue to overcome the overwhelming obstacles that are still left to be overcome.

We must make a commitment to invest in women. Women contribute to the growth of economies and improve the quality of the lives of their families, the health of their communities and their Nations. We have won many battles for equality and justice for women worldwide, and we can do it.

The passage of this resolution puts us, the United States House of Representatives, firmly on the side of women who are seeking gender equality across the world, and I urge its passage

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 149) supporting the goals of International Women's Day.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I first want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) and the other cosponsors of this resolution for recognizing International Women's Day in honor of the contributions and achievements of women all over the world and the importance of promoting and protecting their rights.

I want to pay special tribute today to my distinguished female colleagues on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who are performing their important responsibilities with distinction and honor. I also want to recognize my distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who has achieved the distinction of becoming the first woman to obtain the ranking position on this committee.

Today, women all over the world are becoming leaders in science, medicine, the arts, politics, business, and even the military.

Despite this progress, women and girls continue to represent the majority of the poor, the chronically hungry, refugees, the HIV- infected, the sick, the uneducated and the undereducated, the unemployed and disenfranchised people.

Women are also subject to specific forms of physical and structural violence and discrimination because of their gender. These include sexual violence in both conflict and nonconflict situations, sex trafficking, and domestic violence from their partners and family members.

Cruel cultural practices targeted at women include denial of voting rights, freedom of movement, and property rights. Women are also subjected to genital mutilation, forced and early marriages, humiliating and harmful

widow practices, bride burnings and honor killings. Women also continue to experience an unequal remuneration for work of equal value, discrimination in hiring and admission to educational institutions, and lack of flexibility for special needs such as paid and extended family leave.

It is not enough to simply declare the equality of women, condemn their mistreatment, and increase the number of women in the workplace. We must, in all sectors of society, address the structural mechanisms which deny women and girls access to the same rights and opportunities as boys and men.

We must also attack and eliminate the criminal and cultural practices which destroy the lives and freedom and the health of women.

Statistics prove that when women are better off in our society, their children are happier, healthier and more educated, and our world is better off.

I will do everything in my power to ensure that every piece of legislation we consider in the committee will improve the security, opportunity and prosperity of women, and I know my colleagues will share this important goal.

In honor of our wives, our mothers, our daughters, our female colleagues and our Speaker, and women around the world, I am proud to support this resolution, and I urge all my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), the author of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.