[Pages S7224-S7225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3193. Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mrs. Hutchison, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lautenberg, 
Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Franken, and Mr. Coons) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 3254, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1246. PLAN FOR PROMOTING THE SECURITY OF AFGHAN WOMEN 
                   AND GIRLS DURING THE SECURITY TRANSITION 
                   PROCESS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) According to the Department of Defense's April 2012 
     Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in 
     Afghanistan:
       (A) ``U.S. and coalition forces will continue to degrade 
     the Taliban-led insurgency in order to provide time and space 
     to increase the capacity of the Afghan National Security 
     Forces and the Afghan Government so they can assume full 
     responsibility for Afghanistan's security by the end of 
     2014.''
       (B) ``Transition to Afghan security lead began in July 2011 
     and transition to full Afghan security responsibility will be 
     complete country-wide by the end of 2014.''
       (C) ``The security of the Afghan people and the stability 
     of the government are used to judge provincial readiness to 
     move to each successive stage of transition implementation.''
       (D) For each area designated for transition, a transition 
     implementation plan is developed by the Government of 
     Afghanistan, NATO, and ISAF and approved by the Joint Afghan-
     NATO Inteqal Board (JANIB). JANIB is also responsible for 
     recommending areas to enter and exit the transition process.
       (2) According to a 2002 study on Women, Peace and Security 
     submitted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations 
     pursuant to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), ``the 
     suspension of or restriction on women's enjoyment of their 
     human rights'' can act as an early-warning indicator of 
     impending or renewed conflict. In Afghanistan, restrictions 
     on women's mobility and rights can signal the presence of 
     extremist or insurgent elements in a community.
       (3) The security of Afghan women and girls in areas 
     undergoing security transitions will be an important gauge of 
     the transition strategy's success. Indicators by which to 
     measure women's security include the mobility of women and 
     girls, the participation of women in local government bodies, 
     the rate of school attendance for girls, women's access to 
     government services, and the prevalence of violence against 
     women.
       (4) Maintaining and improving physical security for Afghan 
     women and girls throughout the country is critical in order 
     for women and girls to take advantage of opportunities in 
     education, commerce, politics, and other areas of public 
     life, which in turn is essential for the future stability and 
     prosperity of Afghanistan.
       (5) Women who serve as public officials at all levels of 
     the Government of Afghanistan face serious threats to their 
     personal security and that of their families. Many female 
     officials have been the victims of violent crimes, but they 
     are generally not afforded official protection by the 
     Government of Afghanistan or security forces.
       (6) Protecting the security and human rights of Afghan 
     women and girls requires the involvement of Afghan men and 
     boys through education about the important benefits of 
     women's full participation in social, economic, and political 
     life. Male officials and security personnel can play a 
     particularly important role in supporting and protecting 
     women and girls.
       (7) The Chicago Summit Declaration issued by NATO in May 
     2012 states: ``As the Afghan National Police further develop 
     and professionalize, they will evolve towards a sustainable, 
     credible, and accountable civilian law enforcement force that 
     will shoulder the main responsibility for domestic security. 
     This force should be capable of providing policing services 
     to the Afghan population as part of the broader Afghan rule 
     of law system.''
       (8) Women face significant barriers to full participation 
     in the ANA and ANP, including a discriminatory or hostile 
     work environment and the lack of separate facilities designed 
     for female personnel.
       (9) As of September 2012, female recruitment and retention 
     rates for the Afghan National Security Forces are far below 
     published targets, as follows:
       (A) Approximately 1,700 women serve in the Afghan National 
     Security Forces, or less than half of one percent of the 
     total force.
       (B) In 2010, President Hamid Karzai announced plans to 
     recruit and train 5,000 women in the Afghan National Police, 
     or approximately 3 percent of the force, by 2014. Currently, 
     there are approximately 1,370 women in the ANP, or 0.87 
     percent of the police force.
       (C) Approximately 350 women currently serve in the Afghan 
     National Army, representing only 0.17 percent of the force. 
     The Government of Afghanistan has said that its goal is to 
     achieve a force that is 10 percent female. As of May 2012, 
     approximately 3 percent of new ANA recruits were women.
       (10) Male security personnel often do not respond to 
     threats or incidences of violence against women, particularly 
     at the local level. They largely lack the training and 
     understanding needed to respond appropriately and effectively 
     to situations involving women. According to the Department of 
     Defense's April 2012 Report on Progress Toward Security and 
     Stability in Afghanistan:
       (A) The Afghan Ministry of Defense ``lacks the combination 
     of policies, procedures, and execution to promote opportunity 
     and fair and respectful treatment of women in the force''.
       (B) The Afghan Ministry of Interior ``faces significant 
     challenges in fully integrating and protecting women in the 
     ANP workforce, especially among operational units at the 
     provincial and district levels''.
       (C) In the Afghan National Police, ``Many Provincial 
     Headquarters Commanders do not accept policewomen, as they 
     prefer male candidates and lack adequate facilities to 
     support females.''
       (D) ``While women are greatly needed to support police 
     operations, a combination of cultural impediments, weak 
     recruitment, and uneven application of policies hinder 
     significant progress.''
       (E) ``Although stronger documentation, implementation, and 
     enforcement of policies, procedures, and guidance to better 
     integrate women will help, time will be needed to change the 
     cultural mores that form the basis of many of the current 
     impediments.''
       (11) The United States, the North American Treaty 
     Organization, and United States coalition partners have made 
     firm commitments to support the human rights of the women and 
     girls of Afghanistan, as evidenced by the following actions:
       (A) According to the United States National Action Plan on 
     Women, Peace and Security, ``integrating women and gender 
     considerations into peace-building processes helps promote 
     democratic governance and long-term stability,'' which are 
     key United States strategic goals in Afghanistan.
       (B) The National Action Plan also states that ``the 
     engagement and protection of women as agents of peace and 
     stability will be central to United States efforts to promote 
     security, prevent, respond to, and resolve conflict, and 
     rebuild societies.'' This policy applies to United States 
     Government efforts in Afghanistan, where addressing the 
     security vulnerabilities of Afghan women and girls during the 
     period of security transition is an essential step toward 
     long-term stability.

[[Page S7225]]

       (C) The Chicago Summit Declaration issued by NATO in May 
     2012 states: ``We emphasize the importance of full 
     participation of all Afghan women in the reconstruction, 
     political, peace and reconciliation processes in Afghanistan 
     and the need to respect the institutional arrangements 
     protecting their rights. We remain committed to the 
     implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security. We recognize also 
     the need for the protection of children from the damaging 
     effects of armed conflict as required in relevant UNSCRs.''
       (12) The Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between the 
     United States and Afghanistan by President Obama and 
     President Karzai in June 2012 states, ``Consistent with its 
     Constitution and international obligations, Afghanistan shall 
     ensure and advance the essential role of women in society, so 
     that they may fully enjoy their economic, social, political, 
     civil and cultural rights.''
       (b) Plan to Promote Security of Afghan Women.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
     concurrence with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a plan to promote the 
     security of Afghan women during the security transition 
     process.
       (2) Elements.--The plan required under paragraph (1) shall 
     include the following elements:
       (A) A plan to monitor and respond to changes in women's 
     security conditions in areas undergoing transition, including 
     the following actions:
       (i) Seeking to designate a Civilian Impact Advisor on the 
     Joint Afghan-NATO Inteqal Board (JANIB) to assess the impact 
     of transition on male and female civilians and ensure that 
     efforts to protect women's rights and security are included 
     in each area's transition implementation plan.
       (ii) Reviewing existing indicators against which sex-
     disaggregated data is collected and, if necessary, developing 
     additional indicators, to ensure the availability of data 
     that can be used to measure women's security, such as--

       (I) the mobility of women and girls;
       (II) the participation of women in local government bodies;
       (III) the rate of school attendance for girls;
       (IV) women's access to government services; and
       (V) the prevalence of violence against women; and 
     incorporating those indicators into ongoing efforts to assess 
     overall security conditions during the transition period.

       (iii) Integrating assessments of women's security into 
     current procedures used to determine an area's readiness to 
     proceed through the transition process.
       (iv) Working with Afghan partners, coalition partners, and 
     relevant United States Government departments and agencies to 
     take concrete action to support women's rights and security 
     in cases of deterioration in women's security conditions 
     during the transition period.
       (B) A plan to increase gender awareness and responsiveness 
     among Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police 
     personnel, including the following actions:
       (i) Working with Afghan and coalition partners to utilize 
     training curricula and programming that addresses the human 
     rights of women and girls, appropriate responses to threats 
     against women and girls, and appropriate behavior toward 
     female colleagues and members of the community; assessing the 
     quality and consistency of this training across regional 
     commands; and assessing the impact of this training on 
     trainee behavior.
       (ii) Working with national and local ANA and ANP leaders to 
     develop and utilize enforcement and accountability mechanisms 
     for ANA and ANP personnel who violate codes of conduct 
     related to the human rights of women and girls.
       (iii) Working with Afghan and coalition partners to 
     implement the above tools and develop uniform methods and 
     standards for training and enforcement among coalition 
     partners and across regions.
       (C) A plan to increase the number of female members of the 
     ANA and ANP, including the following actions:
       (i) Providing, through consultation with Afghan partners, 
     realistic and achievable objectives for the recruitment and 
     retention of women to the ANA and ANP by the end of the 
     security transition period in 2014.
       (ii) Working with national and local ANA and ANP leaders 
     and coalition partners to address physical and cultural 
     challenges to the recruitment and retention of female ANA and 
     ANP personnel, including through targeted recruitment 
     campaigns, expanded training and mentorship opportunities, 
     parity in pay and promotion rates with male counterparts, and 
     availability of facilities for female personnel.
       (iii) Working with national and local ANA and ANP leaders 
     to increase understanding about the unique ways in which 
     women members of the security forces improve the force's 
     overall effectiveness.
       (iv) Working with national and local ANA and ANP leaders to 
     develop a plan for maintaining and increasing the recruitment 
     and retention of women in the ANA and ANP following the 
     completion of the security transition.
       (3) Report.--The Secretary of Defense shall include in each 
     report on progress toward security and stability in 
     Afghanistan that is submitted to Congress under sections 1230 
     and 1231 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 385, 390) a section 
     describing actions taken to implement the plan required under 
     this subsection.
       (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
     means--
       (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
                                 ______