Lois Frankel: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, keeping peace in the world, reducing terrorism, creating safe…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, keeping peace in the world, reducing terrorism, creating safe environments where countries can be self-reliant and people can be prosperous is not just about more guns and bombs. Addressing the root causes of global upheaval is an important task. It is an important task of USAID that calls itself the world's premier development agency, which leads me to thank Mr. Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their bipartisan leadership and for the other cosponsors of this legislation for this very important bill that we call the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, which recognizes that when girls and women of the world are free from violence, educated, and have access to tools for economic success, their communities are more safe, more economically vibrant, and more peaceful. This is, of course, when women exert greater influence over household finances, economic outcomes for their families improve. The childhood survival rates go up, food security, and educational attainment increases for their children. Women actually place a greater emphasis on household savings, which improves a family's financial resiliency. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to comprehend the hardships and obstacles that women face globally. I think of a girl like Fatim, born in Mali. At just 8 months old, she was subjected to genital mutilation. By age 12, her father sold her for marriage to a man she had never met.…”