Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696585001610.pdf (United States)
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE school globally, including 130 million girls.

Now, the pandemic has disrupted the education of an estimated 90 per- cent of the world’s student popu- lation—over 1.6 billion children and youth—who saw their schools close at some point due to COVID–19.

July 19, 2022 been, and continues to be, a vital U.S. part- ner for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.
The proposed renewal of C–17 aircraft sup- port will provide the Government of the UAE with a credible defense capability, provide strategic and humanitarian airlift, and en- sure interoperability with U.S. forces.

The UAE already operates the C–17 and will have no difficulty absorbing the additional sustainment into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military bal- ance in the region.

The prime contractor will be The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL.
The purchaser typi- cally requests offsets.

Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor.

Implementation of this proposed sale may require the assignment of up to twelve (12) U.S. Government or contractor representa- tives to the UAE.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require periodic Program Management Reviews in the United States or in the UAE.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. de- fense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
f VOTE EXPLANATION Mr. HAWLEY.

Mr. President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted no on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No.

987, Stephen Henley Locher, of Iowa, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.

f VOTE EXPLANATION Mr. LUJA´ N. Mr. President, I was un- available for rollcall vote No.

246, on Executive Calendar No.

1037, Steven M. Dettelbach, of Ohio, to be Director, Bu- reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Had I been present, I would have voted yea.

f GLOBAL LEARNING LOSS ASSESSMENT ACT Mr. CARDIN.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the bipartisan Global Learning Loss Assessment Act, S. 552, which I introduced along with Senator BOOZMAN last year.
This bill requires the U.S. Agency for Inter- national Development, or USAID, to submit a report to Congress that as- sesses learning loss, identifies gaps in access to education, and outlines the response that is needed to help stu- dents recover from COVID–19 and reach their full potential.

I applaud the ad- vancement of this bill, which was voted on favorably in the Senate Foreign Re- lations Committee earlier today and will now move to the Senate floor for consideration.
I should note that the House companion bill passed the House in June 2021.

So it is time for the Sen- ate to act.

The COVID–19 pandemic has forced schools around the world to suspend in- person learning as a measure to con- tain the spread of the virus and safe- guard public health.
Even before the pandemic began, UNESCO reported that 258 million children were out of We already know that school closures lead to interrupted learning, poor nu- trition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout rates, exposure to violence, and social isolation.

What is more, stu- dents already at a disadvantage before COVID–19 will experience greater learning loss, thereby worsening in- equity and inequality in education.
School closures are especially bur- densome for girls, who are frequently expected to shoulder more household responsibilities and are more vulner- able to gender-based violence—GBV.

For example, according to a study by the United Nations Development Pro- gram, school closures in Sierra Leone necessitated by the Ebola pandemic led to increased instances of sexual- and gender-based violence, teenage preg- nancy, school dropout, and child labor for girls.
Restrictions associated with COVID– 19 have also made girls more vulner- able to child and early forced marriage.

The United Nations Population Fund— UNFPA—estimates that 13,000,000 more child marriages could take place by 2030 than would have without the pan- demic, and when a girl gets married, her education almost always stops.

When school closures occur, a signifi- cant percentage of distance learning alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms.
However, according to UNICEF, two-thirds of the world’s school-aged children do not have an internet connection in their homes, with that number rising to about 90 percent of students in sub-Saharan Af- rica.

Furthermore, schools and local learning centers frequently have inad- equate internet connectivity.
The Global Learning Loss Assess- ment Act will help improve the quality and reach of international education assistance by giving Congress the in- formation we need to assess the status of education worldwide.
The critical in- formation included in the report pro- duced by USAID will be used to inform future policy, oversight, and pro- grammatic decisions by Congress and USAID, and will help ensure that our partner countries are better prepared to respond to future crises that could disrupt the education system.
Specifically, the USAID report shall include: an assessment of learning loss globally and of the impact on U.S. basic education programs; an overview of distance learning in low resource contexts; a description of the barriers to education or distance learning for marginalized children; data on USAID programs that have been supporting learning during the pandemic; an over- view of how USAID has, independently and in coordination with partners, adapted basic education programming during the COVID–19 pandemic to sup- S3367 port continued learning; and a descrip- tion of the authorities and resources USAID needs to continue to support education programs during and after the pandemic to mitigate learning loss and help students get back on track.
The Global Learning Loss Assess- ment Act has been endorsed by several important NGOs, including the Basic Education Coalition, Cambridge Edu- cation, Catholic Relief Services, Chemonics International, Childhood Education International, Food for the Hungry, Global Campaign for Edu- cation-US, Jesuit Refugee Service/ USA, Luminos Fund, RESULTS, RISE Institute, RTI International, Save the Children, Associates, UNICEF USA, World Education, and World Learning.
Unbounded I look forward to the opportunity for this important bill supporting edu- cation worldwide to be adopted by the Senate.

f AFGHANISTAN Mr. HAWLEY.

Mr. President, fol- lowing my submission yesterday, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD the next part of an inves- tigation directed by the U.S. Central Command concerning the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan in August 2021.
There being no objection, the mate- rial was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: ACTS-SCK-DO SUBJECT: Findings and Recommenda- tion—Attack Against U.S.

Forces Con- ducting NEO at Hamid Karzai International Airport on 26 August 2021 (r) The SPMAGTF EOD Team, attached to 2/1, conducted a post blast analysis at 0620 on 27 August with U.K.

Forces EOD and Taliban security (exhibits 5, 65).


EOD concluded the blast was either a vest or backpack deto- nated on the far side of the canal held above the waist, directly across from 1st Platoon, Golf Company Marines (exhibit 5).

EOD de- duced this location from the fragmentation pattern in the nearside canal wall, frag- mentation in the PSYOP vehicle, and blast burns on the wall on the far side of the canal (exhibit 5).
The fragmentation from the vest or backpack was primarily ball bearings (ex- hibits 5, 95).

Open source news reported the Taliban had recently freed the individual bomber, (TEXT REDACTED) on 15 August from the Parwan Detention Facility near Bagram Air Base (exhibit 165).

The investiga- tion found no evidence to support a conclu- sion the bomber used U.S. identification to clear Taliban checkpoints on the approaches to the Abbey Gate canal.
There were mul- tiple avenues of approach to the canal, con- tinuously used by Afghans to bypass Taliban checkpoints (exhibits 76, 102).

The bomber likely used one of these avenues.

Further, no Marine mentioned that any person used U.S. identification to move closer to their posi- tion in relation to the attack.

(s) There was no complex attack; it was a single suicide bomber not accompanied by enemy small arms fire.
(i) Immediately following the blast, nearly all Marines and personnel reported small arms fire (see all exhibits with 2/1 Marines, 24th MEU).

There is wide variation of thought on where the firing originated and who was actually doing the firing.

Many Ma- rines described personnel near the canal as the source of outgoing small arms fire imme- diately following the blast.
Many Marines, to l