National Defense Authorization Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania Senator Casey for his leadership on amendment No. 2172, which is very important. I appreciate what he just said on the floor--the cases of the bravery of Afghan women, the leadership they have shown under tremendously difficult circumstances, and the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists again.

One of the keys to that is that no society can be free, no society can have true safety and security unless the women in the society also have safety and security. So I thank Senator Casey for his leadership in ensuring that we stand by the Afghan women because we cannot succeed in Afghanistan if women go back to what they endured under the Taliban, which was horrific and was wrong, and none of us should accept.

So Senator Casey really has been a leader, and I thank him for being so concerned about what will happen in Afghanistan and working to make sure it never becomes a haven for terrorists again; that women in Afghanistan can live with security; that women and girls can go to school; that they can contribute to Afghan society and take part in free elections; and that Afghanistan will be a place where women will no longer be brought into soccer stadiums and violated.

So I thank Senator Casey for this amendment and bringing it forward. I am very proud to cosponsor it. As Senator Casey mentioned, our amendment would ensure adequate staffing at polling stations by female officers so that when they have elections, this would improve the security of those stations, making sure women can come forward and vote. It would increase the awareness and responsiveness among Afghan National Army and national police personnel regarding the unique challenges women confront when joining those forces. Yes, women--some of them--are now joining the Afghan security forces to defend their nation.

The amendment would focus on improving the recruitment and retention of women in Afghan security forces, and it would ensure that as we enter the bilateral security agreement that DOD will produce a strategy to promote the security of Afghan women and girls.

These issues are very important. I commend our men and women in uniform for everything they have done in Afghanistan to prevent Afghanistan from being a haven for terrorists and to ensure that women and girls can live securely and won't be violated the way they were when the Taliban was in charge of Afghanistan. The images so many of us saw were beyond the word ``outrageous.'' We can't even describe the horrific way women and girls were treated--worse than second-class citizens--under the Taliban.

This amendment will ensure what we all understand to be the bottom line: that no strategy in Afghanistan can succeed if women are not an integral part of that strategy, if women aren't allowed to have the security, the dignity, and the freedom all people deserve.

I thank Senator Casey for his leadership. I hope my colleagues in the Senate will adopt this amendment because last year when we considered Defense authorization, the Senate passed a similar provision by unanimous consent. So I hope my colleagues will do the same and pass the Casey-Ayotte amendment to promote the security of Afghan women and girls; as we look to the bilateral security agreement, as we look to working with our coalition partners as we are drawing down in Afghanistan, we will not leave the Afghan women and girls behind and we will ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists again.

I thank Senator Casey for allowing me to speak on this very important issue.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source