I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4671

To authorize assistance for education and health care for women and children 

in Iraq during the reconstruction of Iraq and thereafter, to authorize 

assistance for the enhancement of political participation, economic empowerment, civil society, and personal security for women in Iraq, to 

state the sense of Congress on the preservation and protection of the 

human rights of women and children in Iraq, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2004

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Ms. DUNN, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of 

Florida, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. OSBORNE, 

and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To authorize assistance for education and health care for 

women and children in Iraq during the reconstruction 

of Iraq and thereafter, to authorize assistance for the 

enhancement of political participation, economic empowerment, civil society, and personal security for women 

in Iraq, to state the sense of Congress on the preservation and protection of the human rights of women and 

children in Iraq, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iraqi Women and Chil3 dren’s Liberation Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) For more than 600 years under the Otto7 man Empire, women in Iraq were kept inside their 

8 homes, repressed, and forbidden to be seen in public 

9 without a related male escort. 

10 (2) The Sevres Treaty of 1919, following World 

11 War I, installed a new monarchy in Iraq under 

12 which education for boys and girls flourished. 

13 (3) Within a span of 20 years, 6 centuries of 

14 repression of women in Iraq was reversed. Thou15 sands of women in Iraq became lawyers, physicians, 

16 educators, teachers, professors, engineers, prominent 

17 writers, artists, and poets, demonstrating the impact 

18 of progressive policies on the ability of women in 

19 Iraq to achieve. 

20 (4) In 1941, women in Iraq earned equal wages 

21 for equal jobs, an achievement still not duplicated in 

22 most parts of the world. 

23 (5) On July 14, 1958, the monarchy in Iraq 

24 was overthrown by General Abdul-Karim Kasim, 

25 who enfranchised women in Iraq with political 

26 rights. 
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1 (6) In 1959, Iraq became the first country in 

2 the Middle East to have a female minister, four fe3 male judges, prominent scientists, politicians, and 

4 freedom fighters. 

5 (7) The 1959 Code of Personal Status secular6 ized the multi-ethnic state of Iraq. Women enjoyed 

7 political and economic rights, successfully partici8 pating in the workforce as well as advancing in the 

9 political sphere. Women had the right to receive an 

10 education and work outside the home. Women were 

11 career military officers, oil-project designers, and 

12 construction supervisors, and had government jobs 

13 in education, medicine, accounting, and general ad14 ministration. 

15 (8) The Code of Personal Status also granted 

16 women extensive legal protections. It gave women 

17 the right to vote and granted equal status to men 

18 and women under the law. It prohibited marriage by 

19 persons under the age of 18 years, arbitrary divorce, 

20 and male favoritism in child custody and property 

21 inheritance disputes. 

22 (9) The regime of Saddam Hussein regularly 

23 used rape and sexual violation of women to control 

24 information and suppress opposition in Iraq and tor-
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1 tured and killed female dissidents and female rel2 atives of male dissidents. 

3 (10) The Department of State has reported 

4 that more than 200 women in Iraq were beheaded 

5 by units of ‘‘Fedayeen Saddaam’’, a paramilitary or6 ganization headed by Uday Hussein. 

7 (11) After the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the re8 gime of Saddam Hussein imposed policies that re9 sulted in severe economic hardship, discrimination, 

10 impoverishment, and oppression of women in Iraq. 

11 Many women were prevented from working. Pres12 ently, women comprise as much as 65 percent of the 

13 population of Iraq, but only 19 percent of the work14 force. 

15 (12) Men who killed female relatives in ‘‘honor 

16 killings’’ were protected from prosecution for murder 

17 under Article 111 of the Iraqi Penal Code enacted 

18 in 1990. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on 

19 Violence Against Women has reported that since the 

20 enactment of that article, more than 4,000 women 

21 were killed for tarnishing the honor of their families, 

22 with the killings occurring by a range of methods 

23 that included stoning. 

24 (13) Maternal mortality is the leading cause of 

25 death among women of reproductive age in Iraq, and 
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1 it continues to rise due to lack of basic health care. 

2 The maternal mortality rate in Iraq is 292 deaths 

3 per 100,000 live births compared with a maternal 

4 mortality rate in the United States of 8 deaths per 

5 100,000 live births. 90 percent of the maternal 

6 deaths in Iraq are identified as preventable. 

7 (14) More than 48 percent of the population of 

8 Iraq is under the age of 18 years. 1 in 4 children 

9 of the age of 5 years or younger is chronically mal10 nourished. 1 in 8 children dies before the age of 5 

11 years, the highest rate of mortality among children 

12 under that age in the region. Some estimate the 

13 total rate of child mortality in Iraq to be as high as 

14 13 percent. 

15 (15) Girls and women in Iraq have meager edu16 cational opportunities relative to the opportunities 

17 available to men and boys in Iraq, and twice as 

18 many boys as girls in Iraq attend school. 29 percent 

19 of females attend secondary school as compared with 

20 47 percent of males. The illiteracy rate in Iraq is the 

21 highest in the Arab world at 61 percent for the gen22 eral population, 77 percent for women, and 45 per23 cent for men. 

24 (16) Press accounts indicate that many women 

25 in Iraq are being pressured to adhere to strict Is-
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1 lamic codes that restrict their mobility and impinge 

2 on their human rights. 

3 (17) Security for women in Iraq is an issue of 

4 grave concern. Women are afraid to leave their 

5 homes or to send their daughters to school. 

6 (18) Women in leadership positions in Iraq are 

7 vulnerable to attack. 1 of the 3 women on the Iraqi 

8 Governing Council was assassinated, and another 

9 has a $2,000,000 bounty on her head. 

10 (19) Women from the autonomous Kurdish re11 gion travel freely, hold important jobs and political 

12 positions, and perform a key role in the revival of 

13 the areas of Iraq that have been under Kurdish con14 trol. The integration of women in the economic and 

15 political spheres of the region provides a contrast to 

16 the rest of Iraq and serves as an example of what 

17 is possible in Iraq. 

18 (20) According to the 2003 Arab Human De19 velopment Report of the United Nations, pervasive 

20 exclusion of women from the political, economic, and 

21 social spheres hampers development and growth in 

22 Arab countries. 

23 (21) Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, the Presi24 dential Envoy to Iraq, has voiced his support of 

25 women in Iraq in stating that ‘‘[w]e in the coalition 
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1 are committed to continuing to promote women’s 

2 rights in Iraq.’’. 

3 (22) Women have participated in planning for 

4 Iraq’s political future in the following way: 

5 (A) 3 out of 25 people on the Iraqi Gov6 erning Council are women. 

7 (B) 1 of the government ministries is led 

8 by a woman. 16 of the 25 deputy minister posi9 tions are held by women. 

10 (C) 15 of the 1,000 nationally-appointed 

11 judges are women. 

12 (23) Resolution 137 was adopted in a closed 

13 session (sponsored by conservative Shiite members) 

14 on December 29, 2003, with the intent of reversing 

15 family law. The adoption of that resolution threat16 ened negative impacts on the rights of women to 

17 education, employment, mobility, property inherit18 ance, divorce, and child custody. 

19 (24) Ambassador Bremer, who has veto power, 

20 stated that he would not sign Resolution 137 into 

21 law. 

22 (25) The Iraqi Governing Council revoked Res23 olution 137 on February 27, 2004, in part due to 

24 pressure from women’s groups. However some mem-
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1 bers of the Governing Council walked out to protest 

2 this action. 

3 (26) The Transitional Administrative Law 

4 (TAL) that establishes the framework for the in5 terim government of Iraq was officially signed on 

6 March 8, 2004. It aims to achieve a goal of having 

7 women constitute not less than 25 percent of the 

8 members of Iraq’s interim legislature. It does not ex9 press a goal for a representation rate for women in 

10 the executive or judicial branch of the interim gov11 ernment. It also provides that Sharia, the Islamic 

12 law, can be a source, but not the only source, of 

13 Iraqi law. 

14 (27) United States officials propose to turn 

15 over political power to Iraqis on June 30, 2004. 

16 Some factions have already voiced strong objection 

17 to the TAL and could press ahead with their goal 

18 of making Sharia the supreme law of Iraq. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that—

21 (1) the United States should ensure that 

22 women and children in Iraq benefit from the libera23 tion of Iraq from the regime of Saddam Hussein; 
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1 (2) women of all ethnic groups in Iraq should 

2 be included in the economic and political reconstruc3 tion of Iraq; 

4 (3) women should be involved in the drafting 

5 and review of the key legal instruments, especially 

6 the constitution, of the emerging nation in Iraq in 

7 order to ensure that the transition to that nation 

8 does not involve or facilitate the erosion of the rights 

9 of women in Iraq; 

10 (4) women should have membership in any leg11 islature or other committee, body, or structure con12 vened to advance the reconstruction of Iraq that 

13 builds on the goal provided for in the Transitional 

14 Administrative Law; 

15 (5) women should have a similar level of rep16 resentation in leadership posts in all levels of govern17 ment in Iraq, including ministers and judges, wheth18 er local or national, and women should be integrated 

19 in all levels of political process in Iraq, especially the 

20 building of political parties; 

21 (6) the presence of women on the Iraqi Gov22 erning Council should better represent the percent23 age of women in the general population of Iraq; 

24 (7) the participation and contribution of women 

25 to the economy of Iraq should be fostered by award-
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1 ing contracts and sub-contracts to women and 

2 women-led businesses and by ensuring the avail3 ability of credit for women; 

4 (8) continued emphasis and support should be 

5 granted to grass-roots organization and civil society 

6 building in Iraq, with special emphasis on orga7 nizing, mobilizing, educating, training, and building 

8 the capacities of women and ensuring the incorpora9 tion of their voices in decision-making in Iraq; 

10 (9) the security needs of women in Iraq should 

11 be addressed and special emphasis placed on recruit12 ing and training women for the police force in Iraq; 

13 and 

14 (10) the Government of Iraq should adhere to 

15 internationally accepted standards on human rights 

16 and rights of women and children. 

17 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. 

18 (a) EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE ASSISTANCE

19 FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN.—The President is author20 ized to provide education and health care assistance for 

21 the women and children living in Iraq and to women and 

22 children of Iraq who are refugees in other countries. 

23 (b) ENHANCEMENT OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, 

24 ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND PER25 SONAL SECURITY OF WOMEN.—The President is author-
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1 ized to provide assistance for the enhancement of political 

2 participation, economic empowerment, civil society, and 

3 personal security of women in Iraq. 

4 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PROVISION OF AUTHOR5 IZED ASSISTANCE.—It is the sense of Congress that the 

6 President should ensure that assistance is provided under 

7 subsections (a) and (b) in a manner that protects and pro8 motes the human rights of all people in Iraq, utilizing in9 digenous institutions and nongovernmental organizations, 

10 especially women’s organizations, to the extent possible. 

11 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PROMOTION OF HUMAN

12 RIGHTS IN PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT

13 OF IRAQ.—In providing assistance to the government of 

14 Iraq, the President should ensure that such assistance is 

15 conditioned on the government of Iraq making continued 

16 progress toward internationally accepted standards of 

17 human rights and the rights of women. 

18 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 6 months after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 months 

20 thereafter during the 3-year period beginning on such 

21 date, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appro22 priate congressional committees a report that sets forth 

23 the following: 

24 (1) A comprehensive description and assess25 ment of the conditions and status of women and 
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1 children in Iraq as of the date of the report, includ2 ing a description of any changes in such conditions 

3 and status during the 6-month period ending on 

4 such date. 

5 (2) A statement of the number of women and 

6 children of Iraq who are in refugee camps through7 out the Middle East as of the date of such report, 

8 a description of their conditions as of such date, and 

9 a description of any changes in such conditions dur10 ing the 6-month period ending on such the date. 

11 (3) A statement of the expenditures of the 

12 United States Government during the 6-month pe13 riod ending on the date of such report to promote 

14 the education, health, security, human rights, oppor15 tunities for employment, judicial and civil society in16 volvement and political participation of women in 

17 Iraq. 

18 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE19 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres20 sional committees’’ means—

21 (1) the Committees on Appropriations and For22 eign Relations of the Senate; and 
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1 (2) the Committees on Appropriations and 

2 International Relations of the House of Representa3 tives.

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