IA
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. J. RES. 302
Designating 1994 through 1999 as the ‘‘Years of the Girl Child’’.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 22, 1993
Ms. FURSE (for herself, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr.
ANDREWS of Maine, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BECERRA, Mr.
BEILENSON, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BONIOR, Ms. BYRNE, Mrs.
CLAYTON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COPPERSMITH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DEL-
LUMS, Mr. DE LUGO, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FAZIO, Mr.
FISH, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. FROST, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. HUTTO, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. KASICH, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Mrs. LLOYD, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.
MCNULTY, Mrs. MEEK, Mr. MINGE, Mrs. MINK, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mrs.
MORELLA, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr.
PASTOR, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. RANGEL, Mr.
RAVENEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TOWNS,
Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr. WALSH, Mr. WASHINGTON, Ms.
WATERS, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following
joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Post Office and
Civil Service
JOINT RESOLUTION
Designating 1994 through 1999 as the ‘‘Years of the Girl
Child’’.
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Whereas girls are the most neglected, deprived, and mis-
treated human resource worldwide;
Whereas girls are frequently condemned to a cycle of poverty,
illiteracy, unwanted pregnancy, and poor health;
Whereas girls across the developing world are fed less, with-
drawn from school earlier, forced into hard labor sooner,
and given less medical care than are boys;
Whereas numerous studies indicate that girls are handi-
capped not only by the perception that they are tem-
porary members of a family, but also by the belief that
boys will be the chief breadwinners and, therefore, are
more deserving of scarce resources;
Whereas parents in some regions of the developing world re-
sort to infanticide rather than use the family resources
to raise girl children;
Whereas girls in some regions of the world become pregnant
at the onset of puberty and continue to become pregnant
at intervals that damage their health and increase the
chances of complications during pregnancy;
Whereas girls with at least a 7th grade education have 1⁄2 as
many pregnancies as girls with less schooling;
Whereas studies indicate that infant deaths decline by 20
percent when girls in developing countries have as little
as 4 to 6 years of school;
Whereas the World Health Organization estimates that im-
proved education for girls and family planning services
for women (including girls) would reduce maternal deaths
by 15 to 33 percent;
Whereas the World Fertility Survey indicates that a girl’s age
at marriage increases with the number of years she has
•HJ 302 IH
spent in school and that she is more apt to marry at 22
than at 17 with even as little as 7 years of education;
Whereas girls in the United States still receive an unequal
education in our Nation’s schools, by any measure—test
scores, curriculum, or teacher-student interaction;
Whereas girls in the United States and abroad are exploited
as the victims of sexual abuse and child prostitution; and
Whereas the most recent study of child sexual abuse in the
United States shows that, of the cases reported, 23 per-
cent of the victims were boys and 77 percent were girls:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That 1994 through 1999 are designated as the ‘‘Years of
the Girl Child’’, and the President of the United States
is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling
upon all United States missions in foreign countries, all
United States diplomatic personnel, the Secretary of Edu-
cation, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to encourage equality for girls in health care, education,
and all phases of family and community life.
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