Malala Visits Capitol Hill to Urge More Education Funding

— -- Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai visited Capitol Hill today bringing her message of “books, not bullets” to members of Congress.

During a meeting with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, Yousafzai included the United States as a country that should invest more in education for young people.

“All the governments including the U.S. government should invest more in [education] so that children will not get deprived of an education,” she said.

Yousafzai was visiting the Capitol to encourage a bipartisan slate of lawmakers to increase spending on girls’ education globally, through initiatives such as the Global Partnership for Education, a group of 60 developing countries, donor governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative Let Girls Learn.

The young activist has a goal of getting all countries to guarantee and fund 12 years of free primary and secondary school for all children by 2030.

In addition to Durbin, Yousafzai and her father Ziauddin met with Sens. Mark Kirk and John McCain, as well as Reps. Kay Granger and Nita Lowey.