Girls Count Act of 2015
Public Law 114-24 · S. 802 · 114th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Barack Obama (D) on Jun 12, 2015 · International Affairs
Sponsor: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Cosponsors (5): Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Benjamin Cardin,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Girls Count Act of 2015
(Sec. 3) This bill states that it is U.S. policy to:
• encourage countries to support the rule of law and ensure girls and boys of all ages are able to fully participate in society, including by providing birth certifications and other official documentation;
• enhance training and capacity-building in key developing countries, local nongovernmental organizations, and other civil society organizations in the design, implementation, and monitoring of programs to address the needs of birth registries in countries where girls are systematically under counted; and
• incorporate into the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs measures to evaluate the impact on girls of such policies and programs.
(Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to support:
• programs that contribute to improved civil registration and vital statistics systems with a focus on birth registration;
• programs that build the capacity of developing countries' national and local legal and policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against girls in gaining access to birth certificates; and
• programs and key ministries to increase property rights, social security, home ownership, land tenure security, inheritance rights, access to education, and economic and entrepreneurial opportunities, particularly for women and girls.
Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator to coordinate with multilateral organizations and private sector and civil society organizations to advocate for the registration and documentation of all girls and boys in developing countries.
(Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary and the Administrator to include in relevant evaluations and reports to Congress the following information:
• a breakdown of U.S. foreign assistance beneficiaries by age, gender, marital status, location, and school enrollment status;
• a description of how U.S. foreign assistance benefits girls; and
• specific information on programs that address the particular needs of girls.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 2100Related bill
Girls Count Act of 2015
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.
- Jun 12, 2015Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 114-24.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jun 3, 2015FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Jun 1, 2015FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 802.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Chabot moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- May 26, 2015FloorFloor · Held at the desk.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- May 23, 2015FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- May 21, 2015CalendarCalendar · Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 91.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Corker with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Mar 19, 2015CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.