On the recordDecember 13, 2012
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning in support of the motion to instruct offered by my good friend Mrs. Davis from California. This measure would ensure that the Afghan Women and Girls Security Promotion Act, an important and bipartisan piece of legislation, will be included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act. And it will require the Department of Defense to produce a detailed plan to promote the security of Afghan women and girls during the process of transferring security responsibility to Afghan forces. For more than a decade now, the rights and security of Afghan women have been on the rise, thanks in part to the efforts and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform. I had the honor of witnessing this progress firsthand when I traveled to Afghanistan over Mother's Day a few years ago and got to see excited young girls attending school for the first time and accomplished women proudly serving in government office. Here in the United States, we often take liberties like this for granted. For an Afghan woman, however, they represent dramatic strides forward in basic human rights and equality. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Mr. McKEON. I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlelady.
