Let us face it, the U.N. has failed. It has failed in its mission to promote world peace.

While all of these are important and significant events, it is the United States foreign policy that furthers the advancement of freedoms and rights for women that is the most striking for me.

No longer should women be denied the right to vote, no longer should women be treated as second class citizens, no longer should women not be allowed to be a citizen at all.

The list of non-democratic regimes that have seen significant reforms since 2001 is long and significant.

The world today is changing rapidly, and we are helping to make it better for our children's future.

As is the case with many Middle Eastern nations, women are nowhere near equal to men when it comes to basic freedoms and rights that we take for granted every day.

The United Nations has come under the control of outlaw nations and self-serving special interest groups.