{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1066", "Tsongas subcommittee demands progress on protecting gains for Afghan women", "2013-10-29", "2013", "2013-10", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Niki Tsongas", "T000465", "tsongas.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "PRESS RELEASE FROM CONGRESSWOMAN NIKI TSONGAS\r\n\tMASSACHUSETTS THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT  \r\n\tContact Michael Hartigan:\u00a0202.225.3411 ~ michael.hartigan@mail.house.gov\r\n\r\n\tTsongas subcommittee demands progress on protecting gains for Afghan women\r\n\r\n\tWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 On Tuesday, October 29, 2013, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing regarding the protection of Afghan women\u2019s rights in a post-U.S. withdrawal environment. Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, the top Democrat on the O&I Subcommittee, requested this hearing to discuss the military\u2019s plan regarding Afghan women\u2019s rights and led the questioning along with Chairwoman Martha Roby (R-AL).\r\n\r\n\tCongresswoman Tsongas has been a longtime advocate for protecting the significant gains women and girls have made in Afghanistan since the United States first began military operations there. She has made five trips to Afghanistan, most recently in May of 2013, to meet with American troops, military officials and Afghan leaders to discuss multiple issues, including protecting the gains in women\u2019s rights. Tsongas and Roby recently penned a joint Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal calling on the military to form a comprehensive plan for protecting these gains for Afghan women and outlining the importance that this issue has for the long-term wellbeing of Afghanistan and our own national security.\r\n\r\n\tAt the hearing, Tsongas emphasized the need for recruitment and retention of women in some of the most important avenues of Afghan society, such as the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). She also questioned the witnesses about reconstruction funding that had been set aside for women and girls programming and how such spending can be better monitored and overseen more effectively.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cToday\u2019s hearing was important not just to identify the challenges we already know exist, but rather to drill down into the specific methods and plan for how we can get and secure results,\u201d said Congresswoman Tsongas. \u201cMaintaining the gains made in recent years by Afghan women and girls is critical to the future of Afghanistan, as well as international security. As one of America\u2019s greatest success stories in Afghanistan, these advances represent a path toward opportunity, equality and stability. America has a responsibility and a stake in protecting that growth. In the near term, it is essential for us to work with the Afghan government and our multilateral partners to ensure that women are able to safely vote in April\u2019s presidential elections so that they can have a stake in their nation\u2019s future. This will require the training and equipping of thousands of female security personnel over the next several months.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tWitnesses at today\u2019s hearing also discussed the new, comprehensive audit on Afghan women\u2019s issues proposed by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as well as the continuing provision and distribution of aid to women and girls after American troops withdraw at the end of next year.\r\n\r\n\tWitnesses at the hearing were: John Sopko, Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction; Michelle Barsa, Senior Manager for Policy, Inclusive Security Action; Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, Congressional Research Service.\r\n\r\n\tBelow please find Congresswoman Tsongas\u2019 opening statement, as prepared for delivery:\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThank you, Chairwoman Roby, for working with my office to arrange this hearing today. I believe that this is a vital opportunity to build on the important and bipartisan discussions on these issues which our subcommittee had in an April hearing on Afghan women in the ANSF, and in our July closed briefing with Mr. Sopko.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cMs. Roby and I have also travelled to Afghanistan together and witnessed firsthand the significant gains Afghan women have made over the past decade in areas such as health, governance and education. Both of us saw what was at stake as our forces continue to draw down, and so I would also like to thank all of our witnesses for being here today, each with your own incredibly valuable perspective.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI would also particularly like to thank you, Mr. Sopko, for the long-term commitment you have made to prioritize oversight over Afghan women\u2019s issues. Your office faces an enormous array of challenges in Afghanistan and is responsible for monitoring every aspect of our reconstruction efforts under logistically frustrating circumstances. I was very encouraged by your recently-announced comprehensive audit of our programs for Afghan women and girls, due early next year.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cFrom your written testimonies it is apparent that each of you is fundamentally in agreement that while there have been precious gains made for Afghan women and girls over the past decade, these gains are already threatened and will face significant challenges after the bulk of our Armed Forces have withdrawn at the end of 2014. Mr. Sopko\u2019s testimony also notes the significant obstacles his and other federal agencies will face in performing oversight on the ground due to security challenges; as much as 80% of the country may simply be inaccessible.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cAfter 2014, not only may the gains which have been made for women be eroded in these areas, it is also likely that we may not even know the full extent of the setbacks, given the various challenges which I have outlined.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI also look forward to hearing each of your thoughts on how we can improve recruiting and retention of Afghan women in the ANSF and Afghan National Police. The issue is increasingly timely due to a number of second order effects of low recruitment, such as the approaching Presidential elections in April and the inability of Afghan women wishing to cast ballots to do so unless there are adequate women in uniform available to search them.\u00a0 The ANSF is not meeting its recruiting objectives, and the obstacles are varied and significant.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tSee Congresswoman Tsongas' full remarks here.\r\n\r\n\t####", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1066"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7804890628904104, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}