Mother's Day Commemorative Coin Act

Mr. President, I rise to join with my colleagues, Senators Boxer, Kirk, Menendez, and Shaheen, in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act of 2014. This bill makes ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority. It would permanently authorize the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues and the position of the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues.

It requires the administration to develop and implement an annual strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls for each of the next 5 years. This legislation will ensure that the efforts begun under President George W. Bush and continued by President Barack Obama to combat gender-based violence will be a priority for future administrations as well.

We have witnessed great strides in women's equality in our own country and in much of the developed world over the past century. Across vast swaths of the globe, however, violence against women and forced marriages are everyday occurrences. One out of three women worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries.

This violence ranges from domestic violence to rape and acid burnings, to dowry deaths and so-called honor killings. Such violence is often exacerbated in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings. Violence against women and girls is a human rights issue, a public health epidemic, and a barrier to solving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and conflict.

The world has just seen an appalling example of women and girls being treated as property and bargaining chips in Nigeria, where the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 school girls and is threatening to sell them into sexual slavery and into forced marriages. Tragically, there are reports that some have already been sold into child marriages. Boko Haram's leaders said the girls should get married and never be educated. He has said:

I will marry off a woman at the age of 12. I will marry off

a girl at the age of 9.

In fact, the very name of this terrorist group roughly translates to the phrase ``Western education is sinful.'' Sadly, this is a viewpoint that is not just limited to terrorist leaders, though it is difficult to think of a more egregious example of abuse against girls than what we have just witnessed in Nigeria. The International Center for Research on Women says that one in nine girls around the world is married before the age of 15, a harmful practice that deprives girls of their dignity and often their education, increases their health risks, and perpetuates poverty. The practice of preventing women from attaining their full potential by targeting them for violence and early marriage is still far too common in far too many countries around the world.

The International Violence Against Women Act ensures that our country will take a leadership role in combating these problems. It establishes that it is the policy of the United States to take action to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the globe and to integrate and coordinate efforts to address gender-based violence into U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance programs.

Specifically, our bill will foster efforts in four areas. First, it will increase legal and judicial protections by supporting laws and legal structures that prevent and appropriately respond to all forms of violence against women and girls, including honor killings and forced marriages. For example, our bill will support our State Department's work with other countries to help those nations reform their legal systems by providing technical expertise and model laws and building the capacity of their police and judges.

Second, our bill will increase efforts to build health sector capacity, integrating programs to address violence against women and girls into existing health care programs focused on children's survival, women's health, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Third, our legislation will focus on preventing violence by changing community norms and attitudes against the acceptability of violence against women and girls.

Fourth, our bill will focus on reducing females' vulnerability to violence by improving their economic status and educational opportunities. Efforts would include ensuring that women have access to job training and employment opportunities and increasing their right to own land and property, allowing them potentially to support themselves and their children.

Our bill will require the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally to identify 5 to 20 eligible low- and middle-income countries for which comprehensive individual country plans would be developed. The bill requires that at least 10 percent of U.S. assistance to prevent and respond to violence against females be provided to nongovernmental organizations, with priority given to those headed by women.

As the Presiding Officer well knows, violence has a profoundly negative impact on the lives of women and girls. In addition to being a pressing human rights issue, such violence contributes to inequality and political instability, making it a security issue as well as a moral issue for all of us.

I am committed to working with my colleagues to end violence against women and girls and to provide the assistance and resources necessary to achieve this goal, and I am pleased to be the principal cosponsor of Senator Boxer's bill.

Mr. President, I am truly delighted that my colleagues from Missouri, Senators McCaskill and Blunt, have today introduced legislation to name Washington, DC's Union Station after our 33rd President Harry Truman, legislation of which I am proud to be an original cosponsor.

It is long overdue that we honor President Truman in this way. While much, in life and in politics, loses its luster as time passes, the Truman Presidency has only grown in stature and historical significance over the decades. There are many reasons for this, but let me focus on just a few.

First, history has shown the significance and wisdom of Truman's leadership in forging America's post-war foreign policy consensus. Truman and America understood the hard lesson of World War II: that a failure to engage in the world could have tragic consequences for our Nation, for our friends and allies, and for humanity. He understood the importance to the free world of helping to rebuild our chief enemies in that war, Germany and Japan. He understood the importance of working across party lines to build and maintain a consensus for these policies so that they did not depend on any one President or party to continue.

We in Michigan are especially proud of the role that our Senator Vandenberg, a Republican, played in helping to build this consensus along with a Democratic President. Their hard work resulted in one of our Nation's most lasting and important achievements, ensuring America's enduring role in leading a rising tide of freedom around the world.

A second aspect of the Truman legacy is his commitment to open, ethical and responsive government. He achieved public notice in the Senate as chairman of a committee tasked with fighting fraud and waste in defense contracting during World War II. He was among the earliest Washington politicians to call for lobbying reform. Ever since Truman's time, any government official who has sought to deflect responsibility or accountability in that time-honored political tradition of buck- passing has suffered in comparison to the Truman policy that ``The Buck Stops Here.''

Lastly, I will mention this: Harry Truman was a simple man. He was regularly described as ``plain''--and to his detractors, this was no compliment--but he wore it as a badge of honor. He understood that this Nation was built on the hard work, dedication and commitment of ordinary working people--because he came from ordinary working people. He talked straight, often bluntly. He demonstrated that one could rise to the highest office in the land based not on clever rhetoric or by currying favor, but by charting the best course for our Nation and clearly explaining that course to the people we all serve. He proved that wisdom is in the power of our ideas--nothing more and nothing less.

It was a train that carried Harry Truman on his ``Give 'em Hell, Harry!'' whistle-stop tour during the 1948 campaign. It was from a train that he held up that famous headline--``Dewey Defeats Truman''-- that serves to this day as a rallying cry for the underdog. He rode the train from Union Station a lot, going home to be with his beloved wife Bess. So naming the train station of our Nation's capital, within sight of the Capitol where he served so well, is a fitting tribute.

I join my Missouri colleagues in urging the Senate to adopt this legislation and pay due honor to President Harry Truman.

Mr. President, today I introduce the National Guard Technician Equity Act to address inconsistencies in the dual-status technician program.

Over 48,000 National Guard dual-status technicians serve our nation. They are a distinct group of workers--as civilians, they work for the reserve components, performing administrative duties, providing training, and maintaining and repairing equipment. However, as a condition of their civilian position, they are also required to maintain military status--attending weekend drills and annual training, deploying overseas, and responding to domestic disasters and emergencies--thereby creating their ``dual-status.''

As a result, dual-status technicians are caught between the provisions that govern the Federal civilian workforce and the military in numerous ways. First, under existing law, a dual-status technician who is no longer fit for military duty must be fired from their technician position, even if they are still fully capable of performing their civilian duties. This bill would give technicians the option of remaining in their civilian position if they have 20 years of service as a dual-status technician, so that the experience and skills of these dedicated employees will not be lost.

Second, dual-status technicians do not have the same appeal rights as most other Federal employees, including those civilians in other Department of Defense positions. Federal employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement have the right to file a grievance and proceed to arbitration, or file a case with the Merit Systems Protection Board, MSPB. Currently, dual-status technicians may appeal to the Adjutant General in their state, but not to any neutral third party. This bill would allow them to also appeal to the MSPB for grievances unrelated to their military service.

Third, most reserve component members are able to obtain health care coverage through the TRICARE Reserve Select program. However, dual- status technicians are ineligible, despite their mandatory military status and reserve service, because they can participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, FEHBP. FEHBP plans can be more expensive than TRICARE Reserve Select, thereby adding costs and limiting health care options for these Guard technicians. My legislation simply calls for the Government Accountability Office to study the feasibility of converting the coverage for National Guard dual-status technicians from FEHBP to TRICARE Reserve Select.

The National Guard Technician Equity Act also allows technicians to receive overtime pay and requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on the adequacy of leave time provided to Federal employees who are members of the National Guard for required military training.

I urge my colleagues to support and cosponsor the National Guard Technician Equity Act, and join me in pressing for inclusion of provisions of this bill in the National Defense Authorization Act.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Mother's Day Commemorative Coin Act. I am proud to be joined by Senator Manchin in this important effort.

Mother's Day is a special event for all West Virginians because this annual tribute to mothers began in our state. In 1908, a West Virginia woman by the name of Anna Jarvis petitioned her local church to declare May 9th as Mother's Day. She hoped that this holiday would serve as a day to remember and honor our mothers, and to promote peace and understanding. Within a year, all 46 States celebrated Mother's Day in some fashion, and in 1914, Congress and the President declared the second Sunday of May ``Mother's Day.'' This May 9 will mark the centennial for the national recognition of Mother's Day, and this bill provides an opportunity to commemorate this important holiday and further recognize the

millions of American mothers whose essential role in all of our lives canna be overstated.

The legislation I am introducing today would recognize Mother's Day by authorizing the Treasury to mint a commemorative Mother's Day coin. Profits generated from the sale of these coins would be donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Osteoporosis Foundation. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has advanced cures for catastrophic pediatric diseases through research and treatment; and the National Osteoporosis Foundation is considered our Nation's leading voluntary health organization.

In the U.S. alone, 10 million people have osteoporosis, and 80 percent of those who suffer from this disease are women. This legislation not only honors our nation's mothers, but also helps to raise funds to fight a serious disease that disproportionately impacts women. Thousands of mothers and their children have benefited from the efforts of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and they are well-deserving of our support. Therefore, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation to honor every mother in our country.

I can think of no better way to celebrate Mother's Day than by helping to promote the health of American mothers and their children.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Mother's Day Commemorative Coin Act. I am proud to be joined by Senator Manchin in this important effort.

Mother's Day is a special event for all West Virginians because this annual tribute to mothers began in our state. In 1908, a West Virginia woman by the name of Anna Jarvis petitioned her local church to declare May 9th as Mother's Day. She hoped that this holiday would serve as a day to remember and honor our mothers, and to promote peace and understanding. Within a year, all 46 States celebrated Mother's Day in some fashion, and in 1914, Congress and the President declared the second Sunday of May ``Mother's Day.'' This May 9 will mark the centennial for the national recognition of Mother's Day, and this bill provides an opportunity to commemorate this important holiday and further recognize the

millions of American mothers whose essential role in all of our lives canna be overstated.

The legislation I am introducing today would recognize Mother's Day by authorizing the Treasury to mint a commemorative Mother's Day coin. Profits generated from the sale of these coins would be donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Osteoporosis Foundation. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has advanced cures for catastrophic pediatric diseases through research and treatment; and the National Osteoporosis Foundation is considered our Nation's leading voluntary health organization.

In the U.S. alone, 10 million people have osteoporosis, and 80 percent of those who suffer from this disease are women. This legislation not only honors our nation's mothers, but also helps to raise funds to fight a serious disease that disproportionately impacts women. Thousands of mothers and their children have benefited from the efforts of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and they are well-deserving of our support. Therefore, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation to honor every mother in our country.

I can think of no better way to celebrate Mother's Day than by helping to promote the health of American mothers and their children.