Heeding calls from Shaheen to prioritize plight of Afghan women and girls, Secretary of State Blinken commits to bolstering State Department’s response efforts
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the only woman and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), today questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken on several policy priorities following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, most notably, the plight of Afghan women and girls and Afghan allies, and continued efforts to evacuate Americans and vulnerable Afghan communities.
Shaheen has long championed the rights of Afghan women and girls and for years has led Senate efforts in support of bolstering the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. During her questioning, Shaheen underscored the timeline of policy priorities in Afghanistan, including failures stemming from the Trump administration that contributed to the deterioration of conditions in Afghanistan and obstacles in identifying, processing and evacuating individuals last month:
“I want to know where that outrage was – year after year, for 10 years starting with Senator McCain, I and others in the Senate tried to get more Special Immigrant Visa applicants through the process so that they could leave Afghanistan, and leave the threat and come to the United States, and there were a few Republicans in the Senate who blocked us year after year from getting more SIV applicants to the United States. I want to know where that outrage was during the negotiations by the Trump administration and former Secretary Pompeo when they were giving away the rights of women and girls and when Secretary Pompeo came before this committee and blew off questions about what they were doing to pressure the Taliban to have women at the negotiating table for that peace treaty. I think there is a lot of regret, and a lot of recriminations to go around,” said Shaheen.
Shaheen asked Secretary Blinken to specify what steps the State Department is taking to safeguard Afghan women and girls. In response to Shaheen’s questioning, Blinken reaffirmed his announcement yesterday to appoint a senior State Department official to oversee the administration’s efforts to protect women, girls and minorities in Afghanistan. Secretary Blinken also underscored the Department’s continued efforts and commitment to accomplish this policy and moral priority through building international pressure on the Taliban and targeted assistance.