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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 102 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 102

         Supporting the goals of ``International Women's Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2007

 Mr. Biden (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Landrieu, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, and 
Ms. Stabenow) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 
                             and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
         Supporting the goals of ``International Women's Day''.

Whereas there are more 3,000,000,000 women in the world, representing 49.7 
        percent of the world's population;
Whereas women continue to play the predominant role in caring for families 
        within the home, as well as increasingly supporting their families 
        economically by working outside the home;
Whereas women worldwide participate in diplomacy and politics, contribute to the 
        growth of economies, and improve the quality of the lives of their 
        families, communities, and countries;
Whereas women leaders have recently made significant strides, including through 
        the 2007 election of Representative Nancy Pelosi as the first female 
        Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the 2006 election 
        of Michelle Bachelet as the first female President of Chile, the 2006 
        election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as President of Liberia and the first 
        female President in the history of Africa, and the 2005 election of 
        Angela Merkel as the first female Chancellor of Germany and who will 
        also serve in 2007 as the second woman to chair a G-8 summit;
Whereas women now account for 80 percent of the world's 70,000,000 micro-
        borrowers, 75 percent of the 28,000 United States loans supporting small 
        business in Afghanistan are given to women, and 11 women are chief 
        executive officers of Fortune 500 companies in the United States;
Whereas, in the United States, women are graduating from high school and earning 
        bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees at rates greater than men, with 
        88 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 29 having obtained high 
        school diplomas and 31 percent of women between the ages of 25 of 29 
        having earned bachelor's degrees;
Whereas even with the tremendous gains for women during the past 20 years, women 
        still face political and economic obstacles, struggle for basic rights, 
        face discrimination, and are targets of gender-based violence all over 
        the world;
Whereas women remain vastly underrepresented worldwide in national and local 
        legislatures, accounting on average for less than 10 percent of the 
        seats in legislatures in most countries, and in no developing region do 
        women hold more than 8 percent of legislative positions;
Whereas 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;
Whereas, 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;
Whereas, of the 1,300,000,000 people living in poverty around the world, 70 
        percent are women;
Whereas, 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 around the world are 
        less likely to complete school than boys;
Whereas women account for half of all cases of HIV/AIDS worldwide, approximately 
        42,000,000 cases, and in countries with a high prevalence of HIV, young 
        women are at a higher risk than young men of contracting HIV;
Whereas each year over 500,000 women globally die during childbirth or 
        pregnancy;
Whereas domestic violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women 
        between the ages of 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, 
        and war;
Whereas worldwide at least 1 out of every 3 women and girls has been beaten in 
        her lifetime, and usually the abuser is a member of the victim's family 
        or is someone else known to the victim;
Whereas, 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;
Whereas, in the Unites States, one-third of the women murdered each year are 
        killed by current or former husbands or boyfriends;
Whereas 130,000,000 girls and young women worldwide have been subjected to 
        female genital mutilation and it is estimated that 10,000 girls are at 
        risk of being subjected to the practice in the United States;
Whereas, 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 600,000 and 
        900,000 women and children each year, of whom 17,500 are transported 
        into the United States;
Whereas between 75 and 80 percent of the world's 27,000,000 refugees are women 
        and children;
Whereas, in Iraq, women are increasingly becoming the targets of violence by 
        Islamic extremists and street gangs;
Whereas, in Darfur, a growing number of women and girls are being raped, mainly 
        by militia members who use sexual violence as a weapon of war;
Whereas, in Afghanistan, Safia Ama Jan, the former Director of Women's Affairs, 
        became the first female assassinated since the fall of the Taliban; and
Whereas March 8 of each year has been 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: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals of ``International Women's Day'';
            (2) recognizes and honors the women in the United States 
        and in other countries who have fought and continue to struggle 
        for gender equality and women's rights;
            (3) reaffirms its commitment to ending discrimination and 
        violence against women and girls, to ensuring the safety and 
        welfare of women and girls, and to pursuing policies that 
        guarantee the basic rights of women and girls both in the 
        United States and in other countries; and
            (4) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        International Women's Day with appropriate programs and 
        activities.
                                 <all>
```