Date: 2005-07-11
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for joining us this evening and for sharing with us the stories he brought back when he went to Iraq. not just once but twice. The majority of the Members of this body have been to Iraq. and every one of them came back with the same information of please do not leave. Do not leave us. We need to have time so we can stand on our own. Mr. Speaker. one of the surest ways to guarantee longterm success in spreading democracy and success throughout the world is to support and promote the education of children and especially the education of young girls. When the Taliban ruled AfghaAistan. girls were legally prohibited from going to school. That is right. girls were prohibited from going to school. This Congress heard the sad stories of education being denied to women. of keeping them from making better futures for themselves and their families. Well. now that the United States has liberated the Afghan women. that oppression is no more. As President Bush has said many times. girls go to school now in Afghanistan. Obviously. this is a good sign for our future. Since the U.S. and allied forces overthrew the oppressive Taliban regime in 2001. approximately 5 million children have enrolled in Afghan schools. Approximately 40 percent of them are women. The United States and the Republicanled Congress have also been leaders in ensuring that the Afghan people have the resources they need to rebuild their ravished and neglected homeland and make it suitable for childrens education. We have appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars for Afghan education. and our soldiers have helped construct countless schools throughout the country. Overall. the United States has given Afghanistan $4 billion in 3 years since the fall of the Taliban. For Afghanistan education alone. USAID has allocated nearly $218 million in aid. According to the State Department. approximatel 7 $60 million has been earmarked for primary education. This is more than the amount given for education to Egypt. Which is the third largest recipient of foreign aid from the United States. Certainly these are significant sums of money and show the United States commitment to the Afghan people. These sums show our continued desire to work together to forge a partnership for the future. In 2003. during my first few months in Congress. I actually went on a congressional delegation trip to Iraq and saw the conditions on the ground there. We talked to women. We talked to men. We talked to children and doctors. Almost to a person the request was there. please do not leave. At first I thought it was because they liked me. they did not want me to leave. They said they did not wanted troops to leave until the country could stand on its own. Today. women in Iraq can go to school and go to the market and hold a job. And they can vote. As we saw here thevery proud Iraqi woman displaying the newfound freedom that she has. These brave women now have the chance to determine their own future now that they know what it is like to savor the sweet taste of freedom and to make their nation a better place for their children and grandchildren. One of the most important roles that Congress can play in the future development of Middle Eastern democracies is for Members to act as individual mentors to future women leaders. We heard the gentlewoman from Tennessee