Girls Count Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking my good friend and colleague Congressman STEVE CHABOT for his leadership and hard work in shepherding the Girls Count Act as it makes its way to the President's desk. It is important legislation that will make an impact in the lives of so many girls and young women around the world.

Like last year, I am an original co-sponsor of the House version of the Girls Count Act, and I think that the version introduced in both Houses this Congress is even better than the one that the House passed last year, as it explicitly recognizes the great work that so many faith-based organizations do around the globe.

There is a need for the legislation, because in too many parts of the world, girls are discriminated against simply for being a girl. Indeed, this disregard for the value of the girl child often begins in the womb, in countries such as India and China, where we see the horrific practice of sex-selective abortion. This cruel practice in turn has led to a gender imbalance which has fed other crimes against women, such as sex trafficking, bride selling and prostitution.

I chaired a hearing two years ago on the problem of ``India's Missing Girls,'' which addressed the problem of violence against the girl child in India. Sex-selective abortion and female infanticide have led to lopsided sex ratios: in parts of India, for example, 126 boys are born for every 100 girls. Perhaps the best figures we have concerning the magnitude of the problem come from India's 2011 census figures, which find that there are approximately 37 million more men than women in India.

In China, too, we see the brutal effects of a one-child policy that causes baby girls to be killed before birth; where only one child per couple is permitted in a society that has a traditional preference for sons, the predictable result is that a disproportionate number of girls will be killed in the womb.

As Mara Hvistendahl recounted in a book I recommend to all of my colleagues, Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, in Asia alone, there are 160 million missing girls, roughly the same amount of women and girls as there are in the United States. The result of this sex-imbalance is a world where there is greater political instability, with violence inside the womb begetting violence outside as well.

Today's legislation, which seeks to have every girl counted and registered, marks a small but important step toward a world where every child, boy or girl, is equally valued and cherished for her or his inherent, God-given dignity from the moment of conception.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 802.

The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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