EMPOWER Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8575 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8575 To strengthen the public-private partnerships and policy efforts of the Department of State to advance women's economic security in South and Central Asia, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 29, 2026 Ms. Johnson of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To strengthen the public-private partnerships and policy efforts of the Department of State to advance women's economic security in South and Central Asia, 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 ``Enhancing Mobilization of Public- Private Organizations for Women's Economic Rights Act'' or the ``EMPOWER Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Women's full and unfettered political, economic, and social participation is vital to realizing universal human rights, global prosperity, peace, and security. (2) Women's labor force participation, asset ownership, and economic security are development multipliers, promoting family financial resilience, community health and development, children's educational attainment, and poverty reduction, among other development gains across South and Central Asia. (3) Women's economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment are directly proportional to countries' economic competitiveness. (4) Women make up about 33 percent of South Asia's labor force, among the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world, yet gender parity in employment could increase South Asia'