Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me thank the chair of the Defense Subcommittee and ranking member of the subcommittee as well. I am delighted that…”

“Let me thank the chair of the Defense Subcommittee and ranking member of the subcommittee as well. I am delighted that my amendment No. 12 has been made in order and that we will have an opportunity to save and improve the lives of many women around the world. My amendment provides flexibility for the Secretary of Defense to allocate resources needed to provide technical assistance by U.S. military women to military women in other countries combating violence as a weapon of war, terrorism, human trafficking, and narcotics trafficking to ameliorate their impact on women and girls around the globe. Madam Chair, the most vulnerable people in vulnerable nation-states are women and girls and women and children. That is both in terms of sexual violence and domestic violence, and also in terms of the denial of access to education. As the co-chair of the Congressional Afghanistan Caucus, I am reminded of the aftermath of the Afghan war. As we began to write the constitution, we thought we had made progress. But the Taliban, after a period of time, began to burn the schools that were designated for girls only. This amendment allows women in the military of these respective countries that are prone to hostilities, violence, and disparate treatment of women and girls to be able to work with our women in the United States military and be able to be trained on the issues of fighting terrorism, human trafficking, and narcotics trafficking.…”