Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today announced that she will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues. 

During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing, Boxer referred to a series of stories by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof that detailed violent attacks against women in Afghanistan and Asia.  Boxer raised the need for a new commitment by the United States to ending violence and discrimination against women around the world, telling Clinton, “No woman or girl should ever have to live in fear or face persecution for being born female.”

Clinton pledged that, “as Secretary of State, I view these issues as central to our foreign policy.  Not as adjunct or auxiliary, or in any way lesser than all of the other issues we have to confront… And it will be my hope to persuade more governments… that we cannot have a free, prosperous, peaceful, progressive world if women are treated in such a discriminatory and violent way.”

Senator Boxer said, “I am very grateful to our new Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry, for allowing me to focus part of my efforts on the worldwide status of women.” 

Boxer continued, “This new subcommittee assignment offers a tremendous opportunity to shine the light of day on a very overlooked issue.  Too often, we turn our eyes away as women are persecuted, abused and treated as second-class citizens.  But even the most conservative historians have noted that when women are given the freedom to live up to their full potential, society as a whole flourishes.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Congress and with Secretary Clinton to stamp out violence against women in the world.” 

Boxer also said she looks forward to conducting oversight of U.S. participation at the United Nations and working to promote human rights abroad. 

The Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues also includes general oversight responsibility for the Department of State, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Foreign Service, and Public Diplomacy.

Senator Boxer is also a member of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, and the Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection.

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