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House Foreign Affairs committee member urges State Department report on Taliban restrictions for women
Summary
A committee member said a bill would require the State Department to report to Congress on Taliban restrictions affecting Afghan women and to assess whether those policies amount to crimes against humanity, torture, or gross human-rights violations; three Afghan students introduced themselves to the panel.
A member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs urged colleagues to back a bill that would require the State Department to report to Congress on restrictions the Taliban has placed on women and girls and to determine whether those restrictions "amount to crimes against humanity, torture, or a gross violation of human rights," as defined in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The transcript did not include a bill number or formal vote.
The committee member opened the remarks by saying, "It has been more than four years since President Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan," and argued the withdrawal has produced increasing suffering for Afghan women and girls. He framed the bill as "one step in continuing to hold the Taliban accountable for their barbaric cruelty against women and girls," tying the measures to earlier debates involving Representative Chris Smith and the reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
According to the speaker, the measure would require the State Department to submit a report to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HVAC) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) describing the restrictions the Taliban has imposed since its takeover of Afghanistan and to assess whether those restrictions meet the thresholds cited in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The committee member said the Taliban's treatment of women—"forcing them to entirely cover themselves, not work, not get an education"—is "100% tied to religion," using that linkage to underline the bill's focus.
During the remarks the sponsor paused to introduce three young women from Afghanistan who are studying in the United States and are being sponsored to study here. The students introduced themselves to the committee: "Hi, I'm Homera Ja," who said she lives in Massachusetts; "My name is Zahavi;" and "I'm Ta Bahaid," who said she lives in New York. The committee member thanked them and said their presence "matters," stressing the value of seeing the human consequences of policy work.
The transcript does not record a formal vote, a bill title or number, or procedural next steps for the measure. The requirement for the State Department to determine whether Taliban policies amount to crimes against humanity, torture, or a gross violation of human rights is described in the transcript as an explicit element of the bill's text. The committee member urged bipartisan attention to the human-rights impact of those restrictions and to continued oversight.
Because the transcript does not include a bill number or further procedural detail, it is not possible from this record to say when the committee will vote on the measure or what formal next steps will be taken.
