Thomas Mott Osborne: “H. Res. 383 encourages the transitional assembly of Iraq to adopt a constitution that grants women equal rights. It was…”

“H. Res. 383 encourages the transitional assembly of Iraq to adopt a constitution that grants women equal rights. It was authored by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) and also the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Tauscher) and myself, who are cochairs of the Iraqi Women's Caucus. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say just a word about the Iraqi Women's Caucus. This was formed a couple of years ago by former Representative Jennifer Dunn and myself, with the belief that Iraqi women are critical to holding the social fabric of Iraq together and bringing Sunnis and Kurds and Shias together. And as we have talked to them, we found that this is the case, that this is true. Because many of them are married. Sunnis are married to Shias and they have other sects within their families. And they consistently tell us that the divisions are not what people think in the United States. But we think that women are the key and probably as important as guns and bullets and tanks and helicopters to achieving a peaceful resolution in Iraq. Some of us visited Jordan in March. And we met with 150 Iraqi women near the Dead Sea. These women drove from many points within Iraq. Two groups were shot at on the way, which shows you the resolution that they had, because they continued on their journey. We visited with many women's groups from Iraq, in the United States and Iraq, as we have traveled. I visited with prime minister al-Jaafari in Iraq in March.…”