Washington D.C. – Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Lead Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke on the House Floor in support of the Keeping Girls in School Act. 

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-Remarks as Delivered-

“I rise in strong support of the Keeping Girls in School Act. I want to thank Representative Frankel and Representative Brooks for their leadership on this legislation. The United States has been a global leader in funding programs to support women and girls from around the world. We recognize the importance of empowering women to succeed and that starts with receiving an education. This legislation codifies the existing U.S. strategy to empower adolescent girls which coordinates efforts between the Department of State, USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Peace Corps, and PEPFAR, to ensure that our development assistance programs are addressing barriers to girl’s attendance in schools.

“It also supports efforts to ensure girls receive a quality secondary education and have the support necessary to stay in school. We know that when women and girls are educated and supported, they’re more likely to invest in their families and in their communities. Last year, I was honored to travel to Côte d’Ivoire to  launch the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative alongside Ivanka Trump and a Senate delegation. WGDP seeks to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025 through efforts to empower and enable women to be entrepreneurs and productive members of the work force.

“I was proud to be a co-sponsor of the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act which was signed into law last year. We must continue our bipartisan efforts to ensure United States support for women and girls around the world is strong. I urge my colleagues to support the Keeping Girls in School Act.”

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