H.R. 606 would express United States foreign policy with respect to, and to strengthen United States advocacy on behalf of, individuals persecuted and denied their rights in foreign countries on account of gender.
Detailed Summary
International Women's Freedom Act of 2009 - Establishes within the Department of State an Office of International Women's Rights to be headed by an Ambassador at Large for International Women's Rights.
Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) establish a women's rights Internet site; and (2) maintain prisoner lists and issue briefs on women's rights concerns.
Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to include instruction on the internationally recognized rights of women and the various aspects and manifestations of violations of women's rights in Foreign Service officer training.
Establishes the United States Commission on International Women's Rights. (Terminates the Commission 12 years after the date of the initial appointment of its members.)
Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to express the sense of Congress that there should be within the National Security Council (NSC) staff a Special Adviser to the President on International Women's Rights.
Directs the President to take specified actions in response to women's rights violations, including actions in response to particularly severe rights violations.
Provides for prohibition of economic, multilateral, military, and export assistance in instances of particularly severe women's rights violations.
Provides for the promotion of women's rights.
Provides for women's rights-related training with respect to refugee, asylum, and consular matters.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the inadmissibility of foreign government officials who have engaged in particularly severe women's rights violations.
Expresses the sense of Congress that transnational corporations operating overseas should adopt codes of conduct upholding the rights of their female employees.
Status of the Legislation
Latest Major Action: 3/16/2009: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Points in Favor
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Points Against
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Visitor Comments
S&C
January 17, 2009, 11:00am (report abuse)How about expressing some advocacy for the folks at home first. The rest of the world can wait until we get things taken care of at home.
A. L.
April 2, 2009, 2:55pm (report abuse)The U.S. needs to be a leader in promoting women's rights on an international scale. The rest of the world CAN'T wait. We can live in denial for as long as we like, but the truth is a huge percentage of the world's women live without basic human rights.
DavidO
April 20, 2009, 8:37am (report abuse)Come on, let's worry about what is happening here in the U.S. and fix our problems before we go worrying about everyone else.
Jimmy
April 20, 2009, 12:59pm (report abuse)Please don't get wound up in other country's affairs. Take care of our problems, please.
CiCi
April 20, 2009, 1:07pm (report abuse)Why are we worried about the rest of the world when women in this country are being abused every day?
Janet C
April 20, 2009, 1:15pm (report abuse)No more interference in foreign countries. We need to mind our own business.
Kala
April 20, 2009, 1:18pm (report abuse)That's right. Take care of us and leave the rest of the world alone.
Greg
(logged in user) April 24, 2009, 4:00am (report abuse)I for one would like you folks in Washington to start working for "WE THE PEOPLE" Not they the foreigners.
NatHarward
May 6, 2009, 12:32am (report abuse)Former Secretaries of State, Colin Powell and Madeline Albright:
"Our country's economic health and security are inextricably linked to the prosperity and security of the rest of the world. The current economic crisis brings with it a strong temptation to turn inward and focus on the pain we are experiencing here at home. But pulling back from global engagement is not an option. Stability and prosperity go hand in hand, and neither is possible in the presence of widespread and extreme poverty" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124148276774185481.html#mod=djemEditorialP... />
To you naysayers here and the world over, I echo the words of Powell, Albright and many others: our prosperity is dependent on global prosperity.
If you don't understand why this is so, consider how much sense it would make for the a city center to ignore its suburbs. Suburbs support the city. Globally, other countries support you and I here in the United States. We stand to grow only if they grow too.