Title: 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.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill provides funding through FY2026 and provides statutory authority for an office and related initiatives within the Department of State to advance U.S. foreign policy concerning the status of women and girls.
Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for an Office of Global Women's Issues. The office, headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, must advise on foreign policy and international programs relating to equal opportunities for and the advancement of women and girls. Additionally, the bill provides statutory authority for the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, which promotes women in the workforce and otherwise supports economic advancement for women internationally.
The bill prohibits the office, ambassador, or initiative from using funding to lobby other countries to change their abortion laws or policies or include abortion as a programmatic requirement.
The State Department must report annually on the program, including compliance with the abortion-related funding restrictions.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2878 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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.

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

SECTION 1. OFFICE OF GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES AND THE WOMEN'S GLOBAL 
              DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY INITIATIVE.

    Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 138. OFFICE OF GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES AND THE WOMEN'S GLOBAL 
              DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY INITIATIVE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish, in the 
Office of the Secretary of State, the Office of Global Women's Issues 
(referred to in this section as the `Office').
    ``(b) Purpose; Duties.--
            ``(1) Purpose.--The purpose of the Office is to advance 
        equal opportunity for women and the status of women and girls 
        in United States foreign policy.
            ``(2) Duties.--In carrying out the purpose described in 
        paragraph (1), the Office--
                    ``(A)(i) shall advise the Secretary of State and 
                provide input on all activities, policies, programs, 
                and funding relating to equal opportunity for women and 
                the advancement of women and girls internationally to 
                all bureaus and offices of the Department of State; and
                    ``(ii) may, as appropriate, provide to the 
                international programs of other Federal agencies input 
                on all activities, policies, programs, and funding 
                relating to equal opportunity for women and the 
                advancement of women and girls internationally;
                    ``(B)(i) shall work to ensure that efforts to 
                advance equal opportunity for women and men and women's 
                and girls' empowerment are fully integrated into the 
                programs, structures, processes, and capacities of all 
                bureaus and offices of the Department of State; and
                    ``(ii) may, as appropriate, work to ensure that 
                efforts to advance equal opportunity for women and men 
                and women's and girls' empowerment are fully integrated 
                into the international programs of other Federal 
                agencies;
                    ``(C) shall implement the Women's Global 
                Development and Prosperity Initiative, in accordance 
                with subsection (c); and
                    ``(D) may not engage in any activities not 
                described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
    ``(c) Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall 
        establish the Women's Global Development and Prosperity 
        Initiative (referred to in this subsection as the `Initiative') 
        to carry out the activities described in paragraphs (2) through 
        (4).
            ``(2) Women prospering in the workforce.--The Initiative 
        shall advance women in the workforce by improving their access 
        to quality vocational education and skills training, which will 
        enable them to secure jobs in their local economies.
            ``(3) Women succeeding as entrepreneurs.--The Initiative 
        shall promote women's entrepreneurship and increasing access to 
        capital, financial services, markets, technical assistance, and 
        mentorship.
            ``(4) Women enabled in the economy.--The Initiative shall 
        identify and reduce the binding constraints in economic and 
        property laws and practices that prevent women's full and free 
        participation in the global economy and promote foundational 
        legal reforms, including--
                    ``(A) ensuring that women can fully participate in 
                the workforce and engage in economic activities by--
                            ``(i) ending impunity for violence against 
                        women;
                            ``(ii) ensuring that women have the 
                        authority to sign legal documents, such as 
                        contracts and court documents; and
                            ``(iii) addressing unequal access to courts 
                        and administrative bodies for women, whether 
                        officially or through lack of proper 
                        enforcement;
                    ``(B) ensuring women's equal access to credit and 
                capital to start and grow their businesses, savings, 
                and investments, including prohibiting discrimination 
                in access to credit on the basis of sex or marital 
                status;
                    ``(C) lifting restrictions on women's right to own, 
                manage, and make decisions relating to the use of 
                property, including repealing limitations on 
                inheritance and ensuring the ability to transfer, 
                purchase, or lease such property;
                    ``(D) addressing constraints on women's freedom of 
                movement, including sex-based restrictions on obtaining 
                passports and identification documents; and
                    ``(E) promoting the free and equal participation of 
                women in the economy with regard to working hours, 
                occupations, and occupational tasks.
    ``(d) Supervision.--The Office shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-
Large for Global Women's Issues and the Women's Global Development and 
Prosperity Initiative (referred to in this section as the 
`Ambassador'), who shall--
            ``(1) be appointed by the President, with the advice and 
        consent of the Senate;
            ``(2) report directly to the Secretary; and
            ``(3) have the rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large.
    ``(e) Coordination.--United States Government efforts to advance 
women's economic empowerment globally shall be closely aligned and 
coordinated with the Initiative.
    ``(f) Abortion Neutrality.--
            ``(1) Prohibitions.--The Office, the Initiative, and the 
        Ambassador may not--
                    ``(A) lobby other countries, including through 
                multilateral mechanisms and foreign nongovernmental 
                organizations--
                            ``(i) to change domestic laws or policies 
                        with respect to abortion; or
                            ``(ii) to include abortion as a 
                        programmatic requirement of any foreign 
                        activities; or
                    ``(B) provide Federal funding appropriated for 
                foreign assistance to pay for or to promote abortion.
            ``(2) Limitations on use of funds.--Amounts appropriated 
        for the Office or the Initiative may not be used--
                    ``(A) to lobby other countries, including through 
                multilateral mechanisms and foreign nongovernmental 
                organizations--
                            ``(i) to change domestic laws or policies 
                        with respect to abortion; or
                            ``(ii) to include abortion as a 
                        programmatic requirement of any foreign 
                        activities; or
                    ``(B) to provide Federal foreign assistance funding 
                to pay for or to promote abortion.
            ``(3) Construction.--Nothing in this subsection may be 
        construed to prevent--
                    ``(A) the funding of activities for the purpose of 
                treating injuries or illnesses caused by legal or 
                illegal abortions; or
                    ``(B) agencies or officers of the United States 
                from engaging in activities in opposition to policies 
                of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
    ``(g) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and not less frequently than annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of State shall--
            ``(1) submit a written report to the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        House of Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
        of the House of Representatives that describes the 
        implementation of this section, including--
                    ``(A) measures taken to ensure compliance with 
                subsection (f); and
                    ``(B) with respect to funds appropriated pursuant 
                to subsection (h)--
                            ``(i) amounts awarded to prime recipients 
                        and subrecipients since the end of the previous 
                        reporting period; and
                            ``(ii) descriptions of each program for 
                        which such funds are used; and
            ``(2) make such report publicly available.
    ``(h) Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--There shall be reserved to carry out 
        this section, from funds made available for development 
        assistance programs of the United States Agency for 
        International Development, $200,000,000, for each of the fiscal 
        years 2022 through 2026, which shall be--
                    ``(A) deposited into the Women's Global Development 
                and Prosperity Fund (W-GDP);
                    ``(B) administered by the United States Agency for 
                International Development;
                    ``(C) expended solely for the purpose, duties, and 
                activities set forth in subsections (b) and (c); and
                    ``(D) expended, to the greatest extent practicable, 
                in support of removing legal barriers to women's 
                economic freedom in accordance with the findings of the 
                W-GDP Women's Economic Freedom Index report published 
                by the Council of Economic Advisers in February 2020.
            ``(2) Requirement.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), amounts 
        reserved under paragraph (1) for fiscal year 2023, or for any 
        later fiscal year, may not be obligated or expended unless the 
        most recent report submitted pursuant to subsection (g)(1) 
        includes the information required under subparagraphs (A) and 
        (B) of subsection (g)(1).
            ``(3) Oversight.--The expenditure of amounts reserved under 
        paragraph (1) shall be jointly overseen by--
                    ``(A) the United States Agency for International 
                Development;
                    ``(B) the Ambassador; and
                    ``(C) the Initiative.''.
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