Girls Count Act
On November 19, the House approved, by voice vote, the Girls Count Act (H.R. 3398). The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the legislation on July 30 (see The Source, 8/1/14).
Sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), the measure would support international programs that seek to improve birth registry systems for girls. Doing so would provide documentation to help safeguard against human trafficking and child marriage and improve access to social welfare programs.
Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act
Also on November 19, the House approved, by voice vote, the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act (H.R. 3583). The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the legislation on April 3 (see The Source, 4/4/14).
Named after the Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, the bill would set aside $3 million to increase the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women under the Merit- and Needs-Based Scholarship Program administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) sponsored the measure.
