Girls Count Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Madam Speaker, today, I rise to support the Girls Count Act.

I want to thank Mr. Chabot and his staff for working alongside my office on this important bill. I want to thank Mr. Royce and, of course, Mr. Engel for their support in moving this bill forward.

Madam Speaker, we can all agree that every child deserves to have his birth, name, and identity recognized by his government. Every child deserves access to an education and to health services. Without a recognized identity, that is just not possible. Unfortunately, UNICEF estimates that 230 million children under the age of 5--and that is mostly girls--do not have birth certificates.

Without this piece of paper, they are effectively invisible to their governments, invisible to the world. These invisible girls are likely not to be able to attend school or to access the needed health services. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for a girl to inherit, to vote, or to simply be a full and active member of her community.

This girl would be at high risk of being confined to her home, of being forced into early marriage, or of being sold into human trafficking. Without a birth certificate, she will likely face a bleak future. None of us would want this for her.

The Girls Count Act is exactly what the title says; it helps ensure that all girls and boys are counted by their governments. The bill helps support the efforts of the Secretary of State and the Administrator of USAID to work with international organizations and NGOs to improve birth registration for all children. Every child deserves to have his birth recognized, and it deserves to be recognized by his government.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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