[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3583 Engrossed in House (EH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3583
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To expand the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women under
the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the
head by Pakistani Taliban on her way home from school.
(2) In late 2008, Malala began writing a blog for BBC Urdu
under a pseudonym pressing the case for access to education for
women and girls despite objections from the Pakistani Taliban.
(3) Malala's advocacy for the education of women and girls
made her a target of the Taliban.
(4) The Taliban called Malala's efforts to highlight the
need for education for women and girls an ``obscenity''.
(5) On July 12, 2013, Malala celebrated her 16th birthday
by delivering a speech before the United Nations General
Assembly in which she said, ``So let us wage a glorious
struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism. Let us
pick up our books and our pens. They are the most powerful
weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can
change the world. Education is the only solution.''.
(6) According to the United Nation's 2012 Education for All
Global Monitoring Report, ``Pakistan has the second largest
number of children out of school [in the world]'' and ``nearly
half of rural females have never been to school.''.
(7) According to the World Bank, ``The benefits of women's
education go beyond higher productivity for 50 percent of the
population. More educated women also tend to be healthier,
participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income,
have fewer children, and provide better health care and
education to their children, all of which eventually improve
the well-being of all individuals and lift households out of
poverty. These benefits also transmit across generations, as
well as to their communities at large.''.
(8) According to United Nation's 2012 Education For All
Global Monitoring Report, ``education can make a big difference
to women's earnings. In Pakistan, women with a high level of
literacy earned 95 percent more than women with no literacy
skills.''.
(9) In January 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton stated, ``We will open the doors of education to all
citizens, but especially to girls and women * * * We are doing
all of these things because we have seen that when women and
girls have the tools to stay healthy and the opportunity to
contribute to their families'' well-being, they flourish and so
do the people around them.
(10) The United States provides critical foreign assistance
to Pakistan's education sector to improve access to and the
quality of basic and higher education.
(11) The Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program
administered by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) awards scholarships to academically
talented, financially needy Pakistani students from all
regions, including remote areas of the country, to pursue
bachelor's or master's degrees at participating Pakistani
universities.
(12) Fifty percent of the 974 Merit and Needs-Based
Scholarships awarded during fiscal year 2013 were awarded to
Pakistani women. Historically, only 25 percent of such
scholarships have been awarded to women. Starting in the fall
of 2013, USAID has committed to provide 50 percent of all
scholarships to women.
(13) The United Nations declared July 12, 2013, as ``Malala
Day''--a global day of support for and recognition of Malala's
bravery and courage in promoting women's education.
(14) On October 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the co-
recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her ``struggle against
the suppression of children and young people and for the right
of all children to education''.
(15) On December 10, 2012, the United Nations and the
Government of Pakistan launched the ``Malala Fund for Girls'
Education'' to improve girls' access to education worldwide,
with Pakistan donating the first $10,000,000 to the Fund.
(16) More than 1,000,000 people around the world have
signed the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education
petition calling on the Government of Pakistan to enroll every
boy and girl in primary school.
(17) Pakistani civil society organizations collected almost
2,000,000 signatures from Pakistanis on a petition dedicated to
Malala's cause of education for all.
(18) Engagement with Pakistani diaspora communities in the
United States, who have unique perspectives, access, and
opportunities to contribute to stability and economic growth in
Pakistan, will be a critical element of a successful United
States program to promote greater access to education for women
and girls.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) In General.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) every individual should have the opportunity to pursue
an education;
(2) every individual, regardless of gender, should have the
opportunity to pursue an education without fear of
discrimination;
(3) educational exchanges promote institutional linkages
between the United States and Pakistan; and
(4) recipients of scholarships referred to in section 4
should commit to improving their local communities.
(b) Continued Support for Educational Initiatives in Pakistan.--
Congress encourages the Department of State and the United States
Agency for International Development to continue their support for
initiatives led by the Government of Pakistan and Pakistani civil
society that promote education in Pakistan, especially education for
women.
SEC. 4. MERIT AND NEEDS-BASED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development (referred to in this Act as the ``USAID
Administrator'') shall award at least 50 percent of the number of
scholarships under the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program
(referred to in this Act as the ``Program'') to women for each of the
calendar years 2014 through 2016.
(b) Limitations.--
(1) Criteria.--The scholarships available under subsection
(a) may only be awarded in accordance with other scholarship
eligibility criteria already established by USAID.
(2) Academic disciplines.--Scholarships authorized under
subsection (a) shall be awarded for a range of disciplines to
improve the employability of graduates and to meet the needs of
the scholarship recipients.
(3) Other scholarships.--The USAID Administrator shall make
every effort to award 50 percent of the scholarships available
under the Program to Pakistani women.
(c) Leveraging Investment.--The USAID Administrator shall, to the
greatest extent practicable, consult with and leverage investments by
the Pakistani private sector and Pakistani diaspora communities in the
United States as part of USAID's greater effort to improve the quality
of, expand access to, and ensure sustainability of education programs
in Pakistan.
SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.
(a) In General.--The USAID Administrator shall designate
appropriate USAID officials to brief the appropriate congressional
committees, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter for the next 3 years, on the
implementation of section 4.
(b) Contents.--The briefing described in subsection (a) shall
include, among other relevant information, for the most recently
concluded fiscal year--
(1) the total number of scholarships that were awarded
through the Program, including a breakdown by gender;
(2) the disciplines of study chosen by the scholarship
recipients;
(3) the percentage of the scholarships that were awarded to
students seeking a bachelor's degree or a master's degree,
respectively;
(4) the percentage of scholarship recipients who
voluntarily dropped out of school or were involuntarily pushed
out of the program for failure to meet program requirements;
and
(5) the percentage of scholarship recipients who dropped
out of school due to retaliation for seeking an education, to
the extent that such information is available.
Passed the House of Representatives November 19, 2014.
Attest:
Clerk.
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3583
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To expand the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women under
the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program.