12 December 2001
Transcript: Bush Signs Into Law Afghan Women and Children Relief Act
(He says the U.S. will work hard to bring them "hope and help") (1560)
Surrounded by women members of the U.S. Congress and Afghan women
leaders, President Bush December 12 signed into law legislation to
help provide health and educational assistance to the women and
children of Afghanistan.
"The women and children of Afghanistan have suffered enough" and the
United States is working hard to bring them "hope and help," Bush said
at a signing ceremony at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in
Washington.
"We work for a new era of human rights and human dignity in that
country," he said.
The legislation, (S-1573), was initiated by women members of the U.S.
Congress. It authorizes the President to provide U.S. funding to
educational and health care programs for women and children in
Afghanistan and in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
The new law also targets aid to nongovernmental groups that are
providing help to Afghanistan's women and requires the Secretary of
State to submit a report to Congress describing the condition and
status of women and children in that country.
First Lady Laura Bush said she was proud of the women legislators who
sponsored the bill, and proud to be standing at her husband's side as
he was about to sign it into law.
Farida, a refugee from Afghanistan and political activist, also spoke.
She said she represented "the millions of Afghan women whose voices
have been silenced over the past five years" by the Taliban.
"Today our voices are finally being heard and our rights are finally
being restored," she said.
Also present at the bill signing event were foreign dignitaries, Bush
Cabinet officials and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who
now is a U.S. Senator representing the state of New York.
Bush, in his remarks, said "a liberated Afghanistan must now be
rebuilt so that it will never again practice terror at home or abroad.
This work begins by ensuring the essential rights of all Afghans."
The United States and its allies will do their part in the rebuilding
of Afghanistan, said the President, adding, "We learned our lessons
from the past. We will not leave until the mission is complete."
Following is the White House transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 12, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AND
CHILDREN RELIEF ACT OF 2001
The National Women's Museum in the Arts Washington, D.C.
11:35 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. For several years, the people of
Afghanistan have suffered under one of the most brutal regimes --
brutal regimes -- in modern history; a regime allied with terrorists
and a regime at war with women. Thanks to our military and our allies
and the brave fighters of Afghanistan, the Taliban regime is coming to
an end.
Yet, our responsibilities to the people of Afghanistan have not ended.
We work for a new era of human rights and human dignity in that
country. The agreement reached in Bonn last week means that in 10
days, the international community will have a new partner, an interim
government of a new Afghanistan.
We join those in the interim government who seek education and better
health for every Afghan woman and child. And today, with the Afghan
Women and Children Relief Act, we take an important step toward that
goal.
I want to thank Laura for her introduction, and I want to thank her
for her steadiness during this crisis. I want to thank Farida for her
courage. I want to thank the members of the House and the Senate who
sponsored this piece of legislation, and all the members of Congress
who are here today.
I want to thank Sima Wali, who is the President and CEO of Refugee
Women in Development, a key advocate for women's rights at the
Conference of Bonn negotiations last week.
I thank the members of my Cabinet who are here, Secretary Veneman and
Administrator Whitman -- thank you all for being here. I want to thank
the ambassadors who are here representing the diplomatic corps. Thank
you all for coming. And I also want to thank Billie Holladay, for
opening up this beautiful museum for all of us to come and celebrate
this important piece of legislation.
America is beginning to realize that the dreams of the terrorists and
the Taliban were a waking nightmare for Afghan women and their
children. The Taliban murdered teenagers for laughing in the presence
of soldiers. They jailed children as young as 10 years old, and
tortured them for supposed crimes of their parents.
Afghan women were banned from speaking, or laughing loudly. They were
banned from riding bicycles, or attending school. They were denied
basic health care, and were killed on suspicion of adultery. One news
magazine reports, "It's hard to find a woman in Kabul who does not
remember a beating at the hands of the Taliban."
In Afghanistan, America not only fights for our security, but we fight
for values we hold dear. We strongly reject the Taliban way. We
strongly reject their brutality toward women and children. They not
only violate basic human rights, they are barbaric in their
indefensible meting of justice. It is wrong. Their attitude is wrong
for any culture. Their attitude is wrong for any religion.
You know, life in Afghanistan wasn't always this way. Before the
Taliban came, women played an incredibly important part of that
society. Seventy percent of the nation's teachers were women. Half of
the government workers in Afghanistan were women, and 40 percent of
the doctors in the capital of Kabul were women.
The Taliban destroyed that progress. And in the process, they offered
us a clear image of the world they and the terrorists would like to
impose on the rest of us.
The central goal of the terrorists is the brutal oppression of women
-- and not only the women of Afghanistan. The terrorists who help rule
Afghanistan are found in dozens and dozens of countries around the
world. And that is the reason this great nation, with our friends and
allies, will not rest until we bring them all to justice.
America -- America is so proud of our military and our allies, because
like the rest of us here, we've seen the pictures of joy when we
liberated city after city in Afghanistan. And none of us will ever
forget the laughter and the music and the cheering and the clapping at
a stadium that was once used for public execution.
Children now fly kites and they play games. Women now come out of
their homes from house arrest, able to walk the streets without
chaperons. "It feels like we've all been released from prison," said
one young person in Kabul, "that the whole of Afghanistan has been
released from prison."
This is an important achievement. Yet, a liberated Afghanistan must
now be rebuilt so that it will never again practice terror at home or
abroad. This work begins by ensuring the essential rights of all
Afghans.
This week is Human Rights Week, when we celebrate the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than a century ago -- a
half-century ago. The preamble to that document declares that the
people of the world reaffirm their "faith in fundamental human rights,
in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in equal rights of
men and women."
This is a great goal, and that's why I'm so pleased that Afghanistan's
new government will respect the rights of all people, women and men.
America and our allies will do our part in the rebuilding of
Afghanistan. We learned our lessons from the past. We will not leave
until the mission is complete. We will work with international
institutions on long-term development -- on the long-term development
of Afghanistan. We will provide immediate humanitarian assistance to
the people of Afghanistan.
After years of civil war and misrule by the Taliban, this is going to
be an incredibly difficult winter in Afghanistan. We're doing what we
can to help alleviate the suffering. In the month of November, the
United Nations World Food Program, with our strong support, provided
enough supplies to feed 4.3 million Afghans. And the Defense
Department will continue to make sure that food is delivered in remote
regions of that impoverished, poor, starving country.
The bill I sign today extends and strengthens our efforts. The Afghan
Women and Children Relief Act commits the United States to providing
education and medical assistance to Afghan women and children, and to
Afghan refugees in surrounding countries.
The overwhelming support for this legislation sends a clear message:
As we drive out the Taliban and the terrorists, we are determined to
lift up the people of Afghanistan. The women and children of
Afghanistan have suffered enough. This great nation will work hard to
bring them hope and help.
To the bill's sponsors, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You
show the true compassion of this great land. May God bless the women
and children of Afghanistan. (Applause.)
END 11:45 A.M. EST
(end White House transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
