I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 783 

To address the urgent need for a Federal strategy to ensure that individuals 

who encounter minors at risk of female genital mutilation are fully 

prepared to take action to prevent the practice, and individuals who 

have been subjected to female genital mutilation can seek necessary 

services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 

Mr. CROWLEY (for himself and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To address the urgent need for a Federal strategy to ensure 

that individuals who encounter minors at risk of female 

genital mutilation are fully prepared to take action to 

prevent the practice, and individuals who have been subjected to female genital mutilation can seek necessary 

services, 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 ‘‘Zero Tolerance for 

5 FGM Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Female genital mutilation (in this Act re4 ferred to as ‘‘FGM’’) is a harmful traditional prac5 tice carried out on an estimated 125 million girls 

6 and women around the world. 

7 (2) If current trends continue, an additional 86 

8 million will face the procedure by 2030, including 

9 minors in the United States. 

10 (3) According to an article which appeared in 

11 Public Health Reports (1997 JAN–FEB) entitled 

12 ‘‘Female genital mutilation. Female circumcision. 

13 Who is at risk in the U.S.?’’, relying on estimates 

14 derived by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre15 vention, in 1990 over 168,000 girls and women liv16 ing in the United States had either been, or were at 

17 risk of being, subjected to FGM. 

18 (4) FGM is widely recognized as a violation of 

19 the rights of girls. 

20 (5) The United Nations, with the support of the 

21 United States, adopted a resolution calling for all 

22 countries to develop national strategies to end FGM. 

23 (6) The United Nations declared a goal of fully 

24 ending FGM within a generation. 

25 (7) The United Nations recognizes Inter26 national Day for Zero Tolerance of FGM. 


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1 (8) It is illegal to carry out FGM against a 

2 minor in the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

5 (1) there is an urgent need for the Secretary of 

6 Health and Human Services, in consultation with of7 ficials at other relevant Federal departments and 

8 agencies, to develop and implement a multi-agency 

9 strategy to ensure that— 

10 (A) individuals who encounter minors at 

11 risk of FGM are fully prepared to take action 

12 to prevent the practice; and 

13 (B) individuals who have been subjected to 

14 FGM can seek necessary services; 

15 (2) the strategy should provide for updating the 

16 estimates of the Centers for Disease Control and 

17 Prevention on the prevalence of women and girls 

18 with female genital mutilation or female circumci19 sion; and 

20 (3) the strategy should provide for a public 

21 awareness campaign, so that the American public 

22 understands— 

23 (A) how to help individuals in danger of 

24 being subjected to FGM; and 


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1 (B) how to address the needs of individuals 

2 who have been subjected to it. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

4 Not later than one year after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

6 in consultation with officials at relevant Federal depart7 ments and agencies, shall submit to the Congress a report 

8 on the status of the development and implementation of 

9 the strategy described in section 3. 

Æ 


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