II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4962 

To establish within the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment 

of the United States Agency for International Development a rural mobility program to promote mobility in rural communities through access 

to affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles, to provide support to sustainably 

increase access to rural areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish within the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment of the United States Agency for 

International Development a rural mobility program to 

promote mobility in rural communities through access 

to affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles, to provide support 

to sustainably increase access to rural areas, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bicycles for Rural Afri5 can Transport Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RURAL MOBILITY PROGRAM IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRI2 CA. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

5 United States Agency for International Development 

6 (referred to in this section as ‘‘USAID’’) shall estab7 lish, within the Office of Gender Equality and Wom8 en’s Empowerment, a rural mobility program (re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to carry 

10 out the purposes described in paragraph (2), includ11 ing through grants made to eligible nongovernmental 

12 partner organizations. In making such grants, the 

13 Administrator shall give priority to organizations 

14 with demonstrated success conducting rural mobility 

15 programs in the region for such purposes. 

16 (2) PURPOSE.—The Program shall focus on 

17 country-driven projects within sub-Saharan Africa 

18 that— 

19 (A) promote rural communities’ access to 

20 critical services and opportunities, including 

21 education, health care, and livelihood opportuni22 ties, through access to affordable, fit-for-pur23 pose bicycles; and 

24 (B) provide support to sustainably increase 

25 access to critical services, such as education, 

26 health care, and livelihood opportunities in 


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1 rural areas, including through support for 

2 rural-based mechanics, access to spare parts, 

3 reduction of social and gender-based stigma, 

4 and community project management capacity. 

5 (3) PARTNERSHIPS.—To the greatest extent 

6 practicable, the Program shall partner with existing 

7 entities outside the United States that have success8 ful models for providing access to affordable bicycles 

9 to achieve development objectives. 

10 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this section— 

13 (A) $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

14 2023 and 2024; 

15 (B) $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

16 2025 and 2026; and 

17 (C) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and 

18 for each fiscal year thereafter. 

19 (b) REPORT.— 

20 (1) PRIOR PROJECTS.—Not later than 30 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad22 ministrator of USAID shall submit a report to the 

23 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the 

24 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the 

25 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Oct 06, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4962.IS S4962

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1 resentatives, and the Committee on Appropriations 

2 of the House of Representatives that, with respect to 

3 each of the fiscal years 2019 through 2022— 

4 (A) describes the projects carried out by 

5 USAID that relate to any of the purposes de6 scribed in subsection (a)(2); 

7 (B) identifies the countries in which 

8 USAID embedded rural bicycle mobility into 

9 strategies, programs, and projects of USAID 

10 and describes the mechanisms by which rural 

11 bicycle mobility was so embedded; 

12 (C) specifies the number of bicycles distrib13 uted through projects carried out by USAID; 

14 and 

15 (D) assesses the outcomes for, and impacts 

16 on, participants in such projects and the efforts 

17 of USAID to disseminate lessons learned from 

18 such projects. 

19 (2) CURRENT PROJECTS.—Not later than De20 cember 30, 2024, and each December 30 thereafter, 

21 the Administrator of USAID shall submit a report 

22 to the congressional committees referred to in para23 graph (1) that— 


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1 (A) describes the projects carried out by 

2 USAID during the most recently concluded fis3 cal year; and 

4 (B) includes information relating to the 

5 matters described in subparagraphs (B) 

6 through (D) of paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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