Zero Tolerance for FGM Act of 2015

Zero Tolerance for FGM Act of 2015

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to report on the development and implementation of a strategy that:

• ensures individuals who encounter minors at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) are fully prepared to take action to prevent the practice;
• ensures individuals subjected to FGM can seek necessary services;
• provides for updating Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates of the prevalence of FGM or female circumcision; and
• provides for a public awareness campaign, so that the public understands how to help individuals at risk of FGM and address the needs of individuals subjected to FGM.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 783 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 783

   To address the urgent need for a Federal strategy to ensure that 
 individuals who encounter minors at risk of female genital mutilation 
    are fully prepared to take action to prevent the practice, and 
 individuals who have been subjected to female genital mutilation can 
            seek necessary services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2015

Mr. Crowley (for himself and Ms. Jackson Lee) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To address the urgent need for a Federal strategy to ensure that 
 individuals who encounter minors at risk of female genital mutilation 
    are fully prepared to take action to prevent the practice, and 
 individuals who have been subjected to female genital mutilation can 
            seek necessary services, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Zero Tolerance for FGM Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Female genital mutilation (in this Act referred to as 
        ``FGM'') is a harmful traditional practice carried out on an 
        estimated 125 million girls and women around the world.
            (2) If current trends continue, an additional 86 million 
        will face the procedure by 2030, including minors in the United 
        States.
            (3) According to an article which appeared in Public Health 
        Reports (1997 JAN-FEB) entitled ``Female genital mutilation. 
        Female circumcision. Who is at risk in the U.S.?'', relying on 
        estimates derived by the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, in 1990 over 168,000 girls and women living in the 
        United States had either been, or were at risk of being, 
        subjected to FGM.
            (4) FGM is widely recognized as a violation of the rights 
        of girls.
            (5) The United Nations, with the support of the United 
        States, adopted a resolution calling for all countries to 
        develop national strategies to end FGM.
            (6) The United Nations declared a goal of fully ending FGM 
        within a generation.
            (7) The United Nations recognizes International Day for 
        Zero Tolerance of FGM.
            (8) It is illegal to carry out FGM against a minor in the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) there is an urgent need for the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services, in consultation with officials at other 
        relevant Federal departments and agencies, to develop and 
        implement a multi-agency strategy to ensure that--
                    (A) individuals who encounter minors at risk of FGM 
                are fully prepared to take action to prevent the 
                practice; and
                    (B) individuals who have been subjected to FGM can 
                seek necessary services;
            (2) the strategy should provide for updating the estimates 
        of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 
        prevalence of women and girls with female genital mutilation or 
        female circumcision; and
            (3) the strategy should provide for a public awareness 
        campaign, so that the American public understands--
                    (A) how to help individuals in danger of being 
                subjected to FGM; and
                    (B) how to address the needs of individuals who 
                have been subjected to it.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with 
officials at relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to 
the Congress a report on the status of the development and 
implementation of the strategy described in section 3.
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