II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2878 

To codify in statute the establishment of the Office of Global Women’s 

Issues and the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 

Mr. HAGERTY (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

DAINES, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To codify in statute the establishment of the Office of Global 

Women’s Issues and the Women’s Global Development 

and Prosperity Initiative, 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. OFFICE OF GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES AND THE 

4 WOMEN’S GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROS5 PERITY INITIATIVE. 

6 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 

7 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 138. OFFICE OF GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES AND THE 

2 WOMEN’S GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROS3 PERITY INITIATIVE. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall es5 tablish, in the Office of the Secretary of State, the Office 

6 of Global Women’s Issues (referred to in this section as 

7 the ‘Office’). 

8 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE; DUTIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office is to 

10 advance equal opportunity for women and the status 

11 of women and girls in United States foreign policy. 

12 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—In carrying out the purpose de13 scribed in paragraph (1), the Office— 

14 ‘‘(A)(i) shall advise the Secretary of State 

15 and provide input on all activities, policies, pro16 grams, and funding relating to equal oppor17 tunity for women and the advancement of 

18 women and girls internationally to all bureaus 

19 and offices of the Department of State; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) may, as appropriate, provide to the 

21 international programs of other Federal agen22 cies input on all activities, policies, programs, 

23 and funding relating to equal opportunity for 

24 women and the advancement of women and 

25 girls internationally; 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) shall work to ensure that efforts to 

2 advance equal opportunity for women and men 

3 and women’s and girls’ empowerment are fully 

4 integrated into the programs, structures, proc5 esses, and capacities of all bureaus and offices 

6 of the Department of State; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) may, as appropriate, work to ensure 

8 that efforts to advance equal opportunity for 

9 women and men and women’s and girls’ em10 powerment are fully integrated into the inter11 national programs of other Federal agencies; 

12 ‘‘(C) shall implement the Women’s Global 

13 Development and Prosperity Initiative, in ac14 cordance with subsection (c); and 

15 ‘‘(D) may not engage in any activities not 

16 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

17 ‘‘(c) WOMEN’S GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROS18 PERITY INITIATIVE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State 

20 shall establish the Women’s Global Development and 

21 Prosperity Initiative (referred to in this subsection 

22 as the ‘Initiative’) to carry out the activities de23 scribed in paragraphs (2) through (4). 

24 ‘‘(2) WOMEN PROSPERING IN THE WORK25 FORCE.—The Initiative shall advance women in the 


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1 workforce by improving their access to quality voca2 tional education and skills training, which will en3 able them to secure jobs in their local economies. 

4 ‘‘(3) WOMEN SUCCEEDING AS ENTRE5 PRENEURS.—The Initiative shall promote women’s 

6 entrepreneurship and increasing access to capital, fi7 nancial services, markets, technical assistance, and 

8 mentorship. 

9 ‘‘(4) WOMEN ENABLED IN THE ECONOMY.— 

10 The Initiative shall identify and reduce the binding 

11 constraints in economic and property laws and prac12 tices that prevent women’s full and free participation 

13 in the global economy and promote foundational 

14 legal reforms, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) ensuring that women can fully par16 ticipate in the workforce and engage in eco17 nomic activities by— 

18 ‘‘(i) ending impunity for violence 

19 against women; 

20 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that women have the 

21 authority to sign legal documents, such as 

22 contracts and court documents; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) addressing unequal access to 

24 courts and administrative bodies for 


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1 women, whether officially or through lack 

2 of proper enforcement; 

3 ‘‘(B) ensuring women’s equal access to 

4 credit and capital to start and grow their busi5 nesses, savings, and investments, including pro6 hibiting discrimination in access to credit on 

7 the basis of sex or marital status; 

8 ‘‘(C) lifting restrictions on women’s right 

9 to own, manage, and make decisions relating to 

10 the use of property, including repealing limita11 tions on inheritance and ensuring the ability to 

12 transfer, purchase, or lease such property; 

13 ‘‘(D) addressing constraints on women’s 

14 freedom of movement, including sex-based re15 strictions on obtaining passports and identifica16 tion documents; and 

17 ‘‘(E) promoting the free and equal partici18 pation of women in the economy with regard to 

19 working hours, occupations, and occupational 

20 tasks. 

21 ‘‘(d) SUPERVISION.—The Office shall be headed by 

22 an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and 

23 the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initia24 tive (referred to in this section as the ‘Ambassador’), who 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) be appointed by the President, with the 

2 advice and consent of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(3) have the rank and status of Ambassador5 at-Large. 

6 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—United States Government ef7 forts to advance women’s economic empowerment globally 

8 shall be closely aligned and coordinated with the Initiative. 

9 ‘‘(f) ABORTION NEUTRALITY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITIONS.—The Office, the Initiative, 

11 and the Ambassador may not— 

12 ‘‘(A) lobby other countries, including 

13 through multilateral mechanisms and foreign 

14 nongovernmental organizations— 

15 ‘‘(i) to change domestic laws or poli16 cies with respect to abortion; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) to include abortion as a pro18 grammatic requirement of any foreign ac19 tivities; or 

20 ‘‘(B) provide Federal funding appropriated 

21 for foreign assistance to pay for or to promote 

22 abortion. 

23 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

24 Amounts appropriated for the Office or the Initiative 

25 may not be used— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to lobby other countries, including 

2 through multilateral mechanisms and foreign 

3 nongovernmental organizations— 

4 ‘‘(i) to change domestic laws or poli5 cies with respect to abortion; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) to include abortion as a pro7 grammatic requirement of any foreign ac8 tivities; or 

9 ‘‘(B) to provide Federal foreign assistance 

10 funding to pay for or to promote abortion. 

11 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub12 section may be construed to prevent— 

13 ‘‘(A) the funding of activities for the pur14 pose of treating injuries or illnesses caused by 

15 legal or illegal abortions; or 

16 ‘‘(B) agencies or officers of the United 

17 States from engaging in activities in opposition 

18 to policies of coercive abortion or involuntary 

19 sterilization. 

20 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this section, and not less fre22 quently than annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) submit a written report to the Committee 

25 on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on 


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1 Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on 

2 Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and 

3 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

4 Representatives that describes the implementation of 

5 this section, including— 

6 ‘‘(A) measures taken to ensure compliance 

7 with subsection (f); and 

8 ‘‘(B) with respect to funds appropriated 

9 pursuant to subsection (h)— 

10 ‘‘(i) amounts awarded to prime recipi11 ents and subrecipients since the end of the 

12 previous reporting period; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) descriptions of each program for 

14 which such funds are used; and 

15 ‘‘(2) make such report publicly available. 

16 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be reserved to 

18 carry out this section, from funds made available for 

19 development assistance programs of the United 

20 States Agency for International Development, 

21 $200,000,000, for each of the fiscal years 2022 

22 through 2026, which shall be— 

23 ‘‘(A) deposited into the Women’s Global 

24 Development and Prosperity Fund (W–GDP); 


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1 ‘‘(B) administered by the United States 

2 Agency for International Development; 

3 ‘‘(C) expended solely for the purpose, du4 ties, and activities set forth in subsections (b) 

5 and (c); and 

6 ‘‘(D) expended, to the greatest extent prac7 ticable, in support of removing legal barriers to 

8 women’s economic freedom in accordance with 

9 the findings of the W–GDP Women’s Economic 

10 Freedom Index report published by the Council 

11 of Economic Advisers in February 2020. 

12 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding para13 graph (1), amounts reserved under paragraph (1) 

14 for fiscal year 2023, or for any later fiscal year, may 

15 not be obligated or expended unless the most recent 

16 report submitted pursuant to subsection (g)(1) in17 cludes the information required under subpara18 graphs (A) and (B) of subsection (g)(1). 

19 ‘‘(3) OVERSIGHT.—The expenditure of amounts 

20 reserved under paragraph (1) shall be jointly over21 seen by— 

22 ‘‘(A) the United States Agency for Inter23 national Development; 

24 ‘‘(B) the Ambassador; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the Initiative.’’. 

Æ 


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