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[Senate Report 111-344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                       Calendar No. 637
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     111-344

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INTERNATIONAL PROTECTING GIRLS BY PREVENTING CHILD MARRIAGE ACT OF 2010

                                _______
                                

 October 26 (legislative day, October 1), 2010.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of Septemer 29, 2010

          Mr. Kerry, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
                        submitted the following

                                 REPORT

                         [To accompany S. 987]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under 
consideration the bill (S. 987) to protect girls in developing 
countries through the prevention of child marriage, and for 
other purposes, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and 
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................2
 IV. Cost Estimate....................................................2
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................4

                               I. PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 987 is to protect girls in developing 
countries through the prevention of child marriage.

                          II. COMMITTEE ACTION

    Senator Durbin introduced S. 987 on May 6, 2009. On 
September 21, 2010, the committee ordered the bill, amended in 
the nature of a substitute, reported favorably by voice vote. 
Changes in the substitute included merging section 5 on 
assistance to prevent the incidence of childhood marriage in 
developing countries with section 6 on the strategy to prevent 
child marriage in developing countries; modifying the deadlines 
for implementation of the multi-year strategy and for 
submission of the report to Congress detailing the 
implementation of said strategy; and removing section 9 on the 
authorization of appropriations for such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.

                            III. DISCUSSION

    The stated purpose of S. 987 is to protect girls in 
developing countries through the prevention of child marriage. 
The bill finds that child marriage is a violation of article 16 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its practice 
undermines U.S. investments in foreign assistance to promote 
education and skills building for girls, reduce maternal and 
child mortality, halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS, and prevent 
gender-based violence.
    Through S. 987, the President is authorized to provide 
assistance to prevent the incidence of child marriage in 
developing countries, and to promote the educational, health, 
economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women. 
Priority should be given to areas or regions in developing 
countries in which 40 percent or more of girls under the age of 
18 are married. The committee intends for the bill to support 
activities that expand and replicate successful community-based 
programs to prevent the incidence of child marriage and that 
establish pilot projects to prevent child marriage. The bill 
does not authorize any new funds.
    S. 987 requires the President to establish a multi-year 
strategy to prevent child marriage in developing countries, 
which shall be implemented not later than one year after the 
date of enactment of this Act. Not later than three years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit 
to Congress a report that includes a description of the 
implementation of said strategy, examples of best practices or 
programs to prevent child marriage in developing countries, and 
an assessment of current U.S. funded efforts to prevent child 
marriage in developing countries.
    The committee intends for the President to work with the 
Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development 
to collect data on the incidence of child marriage in countries 
that receive U.S. foreign or development assistance, as well as 
on the impact of the incidence of child marriage and the age at 
marriage on progress in meeting key development goals. Section 
7 of the bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to 
include in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
of the Department of State a description of child marriage in 
countries where child marriage is prevalent at rates at or 
above 40 percent in at least one sub-national region.

                           IV. COST ESTIMATE

    In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this 
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the 
Congressional Budget Office.

                            United States Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, October 7, 2010.

Hon. John F. Kerry,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 987, the 
International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act 
of 2010.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita 
D'Monte.
          Sincerely,
                                      Douglas W. Elmendorf.

cc: Hon. Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Minority Member
                                ------                                

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                   October 7, 2010.

                                 S. 987

International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010

  AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON 
                           SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

    S. 987 would authorize the President to provide assistance 
to developing countries to reduce the incidence of child 
marriage and would require him to develop and implement a 
multiyear strategy to prevent such marriages and to promote the 
empowerment of girls. CBO estimates that implementing the bill 
would cost $67 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming 
appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting S. 987 would 
not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-
go procedures do not apply to this legislation.
    S. 987 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The estimated budgetary impact of S. 987 is shown in the 
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within 
budget function 150 (international affairs). For this estimate, 
CBO assumes that the estimated authorizations will be 
appropriated each fiscal year and that outlays will follow 
historical spending patterns for similar and existing programs.

                                        Changes in Spending Due to S. 987
                                     By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       2011      2012      2013      2014      2015    2011-2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization Level......................       21        21        21        22        22        108
Estimated Outlays..................................        1        10        16        19        20         67
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Components do not sum to totals because of rounding.

    The bill would require the President to target assistance 
to countries that have rates of child marriage exceeding 40 
percent and to replicate or expand successful efforts to 
prevent child marriages. According to the International Center 
for Research on Women, 21 countries--mostly in Africa--have 
rates of child marriage that are at least that high. Based on 
information from the U.S. Agency for International Development 
on current programs to prevent child marriage, CBO estimates 
that the agency would require annual appropriations of $1 
million per country to implement similar or expanded programs 
in the 21 high-priority countries, for a total of $21 million 
in 2011 and $107 million over the 2011-2015 period. Assuming 
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that 
implementing the bill would cost $66 million over the 2011-2015 
period. (The remainder would be spent after 2015.)
    CBO estimates that the administrative costs of implementing 
the bill's requirements to develop and carry out a multiyear 
strategy to prevent child marriage and to submit reports to the 
Congress would cost less than $500,000 each year and would 
total $1 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming the 
availability of appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is 
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.

                      VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 12 of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, 
as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be 
omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 
roman).

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    Sec. 116. Human Rights.--(a)

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (g) The report required by subsection (d) shall include for 
each country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at 
or above 40 percent in at least one subnational region, a 
description of the status of the practice of child marriage in 
such country. In this subsection, the term ``child marriage'' 
means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum age 
for marriage stipulated in law in the country in which such 
girl or boy is a resident.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    Sec. 502A. * * * [Repealed--1996]

    Sec. 502B. Human Rights.--(a)(1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (i) The report required by subsection (d) shall include for 
each country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at 
or above 40 percent in at least one subnational region, a 
description of the status of the practice of child marriage in 
such country. In this subsection, the term ``child marriage'' 
means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum age 
for marriage stipulated in law in the country in which such 
girl or boy is a resident.

                                  
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