I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5194

To amend title 13, United States Code, to require the Bureau of the Census

to measure the status of women, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 5, 1994

Mrs. SCHROEDER (for herself and Mrs. MORELLA) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To amend title 13, United States Code, to require the Bureau of the Census to measure the status of women,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Progress As5 sessment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Timely and reliable data on the situation of

9 women in the United States and around the world

10 is critical to the effective implementation of the Plat-
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1 form for Action agreed upon at the International

2 Conference on Population and Development and in

3 evaluating the cost effectiveness of United States do4 mestic and foreign assistance programs.

5 (2) Statistics on women exist in every country,

6 including the United States, but are not generally

7 published or analyzed in a form accessible to those,

8 including laypersons, concerned with gender issues.

9 (3) Many of the statistical indicators currently

10 used fail to provide a complete picture of women’s

11 health and their roles within the family, the econ12 omy, and political and social spheres.

13 (4) Many topics relevant to gender issues in so14 ciety have not been adequately measured, such as

15 access to resources, time-use, extent of family re16 sponsibilities, and the quality and effectiveness of

17 programs and policies designed to meet women’s

18 needs. Efforts to develop appropriate approaches to

19 data collection and to refine old approaches to data

20 collection are required.

21 (5) Comparable measurements and standard

22 methodologies for collection and analysis of gender

23 statistics must be integrated into the ongoing pro24 grams of the United States Census Bureau’s na25 tional and international statistical services, and the
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1 statistical services funded by United States Agency

2 for International Development, so that they can pro3 vide an unbiased basis for the design, implementa4 tion and monitoring of programs, policies, and legis5 lation.

6 SEC. 3. SURVEY OF STATUS OF WOMEN.

7 (a) PERIODIC SURVEYS REQUIRED.—Title 13, Unit8 ed States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new chapter:

10 ‘‘CHAPTER 11—COLLECTION AND PUBLICATION

11 OF INFORMATION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

‘‘Sec.

‘‘501. Collection and publication.

‘‘502. Reports.

‘‘503. Federal Forum on Women’s Statistics.

12 ‘‘§ 501. Collection and publication

13 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall collect, compile, and publish

14 statistics concerning the status of women and girls of all

15 ages in the United States, and compile and publish statis16 tics concerning the status of women and girls of all ages

17 in foreign countries and in refugee camps, including statis18 tics in the following priority areas—

19 ‘‘(1) participation in the labor force, and edu20 cational and political institutions;

21 ‘‘(2) the structure of, care of, and support for

22 families;
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1 ‘‘(3) fertility regulation behavior and health;

2 and

3 ‘‘(4) such additional categories as the Secretary

4 may determine.

5 ‘‘(b) To assist the Secretary in carrying out the provi6 sions of this chapter in foreign countries and refugee

7 camps, the Administrator of the United States Agency for

8 International Development, acting through its regional bu9 reaus as well as its offices of population and women in

10 development, and the Secretary of State acting through

11 the Bureau for Refugee Programs, shall collect the infor12 mation described in this chapter in the form and manner

13 which shall be agreed to between the Secretary, the Sec14 retary of State, and the Administrator.

15 ‘‘(c) The Secretary, the Secretary of State, and the

16 Administrator shall seek to develop and establish inter17 nationally comparable measures and standard methodolo18 gies for collection of information on women and their roles

19 under this chapter in both a large scale quantitative man20 ner and in-depth descriptive manner based on smaller

21 samples, surveys, or case studies. The United States Agen22 cy for International Development, the State Department,

23 and the Bureau of the Census shall incorporate these

24 measures and methodologies into their current and future,

25 data collection effort. The Bureau of the Census shall pro-
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1 mote these measures and methodologies in their inter2 national programs.

3 ‘‘§ 502. Reports

4 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall publish the statistics col5 lected under section 501, together with information ob6 tained from other departments, agencies, or establish7 ments of the Federal Government—

8 ‘‘(1) for the United States, in 1997 and every

9 second year thereafter; and

10 ‘‘(2) for foreign countries, in 1999 and every

11 fifth year thereafter.

12 ‘‘(b) Each report under subsection (a) (after the first

13 such report) shall include historical comparisons and in14 terpretive comparisons on the changes in the status of

15 women since the preceding report.

16 ‘‘(c) Each report under this section shall be submit17 ted to the Congress.

18 ‘‘§ 503. Federal Forum on Women’s Statistics

19 ‘‘(a) To assist in carrying out the provisions in this

20 chapter, the Secretary shall establish a Federal Forum on

21 Women’s Statistics. The Forum may include representa22 tives from appropriate departments, agencies, and estab23 lishments of the Federal Government that collect, compile,

24 analyze, or publish data on the status of women and girls,

25 and those entities that receive Federal grants or contracts
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1 to collect, compile, analyze, or publish data on the status

2 of women and girls.

3 ‘‘(b) The Forum shall meet semiannually to exchange

4 information on current collection and survey initiatives

5 and to avoid duplication of efforts, to identify gaps in

6 data, and to carry out other activities as the Secretary

7 shall designate.’’.

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters

9 at the beginning of title 13, United States Code, is amend10 ed by adding at the end the following:

‘‘11. Collection and publication of information on the

status of women ..................................................... 501’’.

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