106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1143

AN ACT

To establish a program to provide assistance for

for other purposes.for microenterprises in developing countries, andprograms of credit and other financial services
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1143

AN ACT

To establish a program to provide assistance for programs

of credit and other financial services for microenterprises

in developing countries, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microenterprise for

3 Self-Reliance Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.

5 The Congress makes the following findings and dec6 larations:

7 (1) According to the World Bank, more than

8 1,200,000,000 people in the developing world, or

9 one-fifth of the world’s population, subsist on less

10 than $1 a day.

11 (2) Over 32,000 of their children die each day

12 from largely preventable malnutrition and disease.

13 (3)(A) Women in poverty generally have larger

14 work loads and less access to educational and eco15 nomic opportunities than their male counterparts.

16 (B) Directly aiding the poorest of the poor, es17 pecially women, in the developing world has a posi18 tive effect not only on family incomes, but also on

19 child nutrition, health and education, as women in

20 particular reinvest income in their families.

21 (4)(A) The poor in the developing world, par22 ticularly women, generally lack stable employment

23 and social safety nets.

24 (B) Many turn to self-employment to generate

25 a substantial portion of their livelihood. In Africa,
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1 over 80 percent of employment is generated in the

2 informal sector of the self-employed poor.

3 (C) These poor entrepreneurs are often trapped

4 in poverty because they cannot obtain credit at rea5 sonable rates to build their asset base or expand

6 their otherwise viable self-employment activities.

7 (D) Many of the poor are forced to pay interest

8 rates as high as 10 percent per day to money lend9 ers.

10 (5)(A) The poor are able to expand their in11 comes and their businesses dramatically when they

12 can access loans at reasonable interest rates.

13 (B) Through the development of self-sustaining

14 microfinance programs, poor people themselves can

15 lead the fight against hunger and poverty.

16 (6)(A) On February 2–4, 1997, a global Micro17 credit Summit was held in Washington, District of

18 Columbia, to launch a plan to expand access to cred19 it for self-employment and other financial and busi20 ness services to 100,000,000 of the world’s poorest

21 families, especially the women of those families, by

22 2005.

23 (B) With an average family size of five, achiev24 ing this goal will mean that the benefits of micro-
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1 finance will thereby reach nearly half of the world’s

2 more than 1,000,000,000 absolute poor people.

3 (7)(A) Nongovernmental organizations, such as

4 those that comprise the Microenterprise Coalition

5 (such as the Grameen Bank (Bangladesh,) K–REP

6 (Kenya), and networks such as Accion International,

7 the Foundation for International Community Assist8 ance (FINCA), and the credit union movement) are

9 successful in lending directly to the very poor.

10 (B) Microfinance institutions such as BRAC

11 (Bangladesh), BancoSol (Bolivia), SEWA Bank

12 (India), and ACEP (Senegal) are regulated financial

13 institutions that can raise funds directly from the

14 local and international capital markets.

15 (8)(A) Microenterprise institutions not only re16 duce poverty, but also reduce the dependency on for17 eign assistance.

18 (B) Interest income on the credit portfolio is

19 used to pay recurring institutional costs, assuring

20 the long-term sustainability of development assist21 ance.

22 (9) Microfinance institutions leverage foreign

23 assistance resources because loans are recycled, gen24 erating new benefits to program participants.
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1 (10)(A) The development of sustainable micro2 finance institutions that provide credit and training,

3 and mobilize domestic savings, are critical compo4 nents to a global strategy of poverty reduction and

5 broad-based economic development.

6 (B) In the efforts of the United States to lead

7 the development of a new global financial architec8 ture, microenterprise should play a vital role. The

9 recent shocks to international financial markets

10 demonstrate how the financial sector can shape the

11 destiny of nations. Microfinance can serve as a pow12 erful tool for building a more inclusive financial sec13 tor which serves the broad majority of the world’s

14 population including the very poor and women and

15 thus generate more social stability and prosperity.

16 (C) Over the last two decades, the United

17 States has been a global leader in promoting the

18 global microenterprise sector, primarily through its

19 development assistance programs at the United

20 States Agency for International Development. Addi21 tionally, the United States Department of the Treas22 ury and the Department of State have used their au23 thority to promote microenterprise in the develop24 ment programs of international financial institutions

25 and the United Nations.
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1 (11)(A) In 1994, the United States Agency for

2 International Development launched the ‘‘Micro3 enterprise Initiative’’ in partnership with the Con4 gress.

5 (B) The initiative committed to expanding

6 funding for the microenterprise programs of the

7 Agency, and set a goal that, by the end of fiscal year

8 1996, half of all microenterprise resources would

9 support programs and institutions that provide cred10 it to the poorest, with loans under $300.

11 (C) In order to achieve the goal of the micro12 credit summit, increased investment in microcredit

13 institutions serving the poorest will be critical.

14 (12) Providing the United States share of the

15 global investment needed to achieve the goal of the

16 microcredit summit will require only a small increase

17 in United States funding for international micro18 credit programs, with an increased focus on institu19 tions serving the poorest.

20 (13)(A) In order to reach tens of millions of the

21 poorest with microcredit, it is crucial to expand and

22 replicate successful microcredit institutions.

23 (B) These institutions need assistance in devel24 oping their institutional capacity to expand their

25 services and tap commercial sources of capital.
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1 (14) Nongovernmental organizations have dem2 onstrated competence in developing networks of local

3 microfinance institutions and other assistance deliv4 ery mechanisms so that they reach large numbers of

5 the very poor, and achieve financial sustainability.

6 (15) Recognizing that the United States Agency

7 for International Development has developed very ef8 fective partnerships with nongovernmental organiza9 tions, and that the Agency will have fewer missions

10 to carry out its work, the Agency should place pri11 ority on investing in those nongovernmental network

12 institutions that meet performance criteria through

13 the central funding mechanisms of the Agency.

14 (16) By expanding and replicating successful

15 microcredit institutions, it should be possible to cre16 ate a global infrastructure to provide financial serv17 ices to the world’s poorest families.

18 (17)(A) The United States can provide leader19 ship to other bilateral and multilateral development

20 agencies as such agencies expand their support to

21 the microenterprise sector.

22 (B) The United States should seek to improve

23 coordination among G–7 countries in the support of

24 the microenterprise sector in order to leverage the
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1 investment of the United States with that of other

2 donor nations.

3 (18) Through increased support for microenter4 prise, especially credit for the poorest, the United

5 States can continue to play a leadership role in the

6 global effort to expand financial services and oppor7 tunity to 100,000,000 of the poorest families on the

8 planet.

9 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

10 The purposes of this Act are—

11 (1) to make microenterprise development an im12 portant element of United States foreign economic

13 policy and assistance;

14 (2) to provide for the continuation and expan15 sion of the commitment of the United States Agency

16 for International Development to the development of

17 microenterprise institutions as outlined in its 1994

18 Microenterprise Initiative;

19 (3) to support and develop the capacity of

20 United States and indigenous nongovernmental or21 ganization intermediaries to provide credit, savings,

22 training and technical services to microentre23 preneurs;

24 (4) to increase the amount of assistance de25 voted to credit activities designed to reach the poor-
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1 est sector in developing countries, and to improve

2 the access of the poorest, particularly women, to

3 microenterprise credit in developing countries; and

4 (5) to encourage the United States Agency for

5 International Development to coordinate micro6 finance policy, in consultation with the Department

7 of the Treasury and the Department of State, and

8 to provide global leadership in promoting micro9 enterprise for the poorest among bilateral and multi10 lateral donors.

11 SEC. 4. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST12 ANCE.

13 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

14 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended—

15 (1) by redesignating the second section 129 (as

16 added by section 4 of the Torture Victims Relief Act

17 of 1998 (Public Law 105–320)) as section 130; and

18 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec19 tion:

20 ‘‘SEC. 131. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT AS21 SISTANCE.

22 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—The Congress finds

23 and declares that—

24 ‘‘(1) the development of microenterprise is a

25 vital factor in the stable growth of developing coun-
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1 tries and in the development of free, open, and equi2 table international economic systems;

3 ‘‘(2) it is therefore in the best interest of the

4 United States to assist the development of micro5 enterprises in developing countries; and

6 ‘‘(3) the support of microenterprise can be

7 served by programs providing credit, savings, train8 ing, and technical assistance.

9 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—(1) In carrying out this part,

10 the President is authorized to provide grant assistance for

11 programs to increase the availability of credit and other

12 services to microenterprises lacking full access to capital

13 and training through—

14 ‘‘(A) grants to microfinance institutions for the

15 purpose of expanding the availability of credit, sav16 ings, and other financial services to microentre17 preneurs;

18 ‘‘(B) training, technical assistance, and other

19 support for microenterprises to enable them to make

20 better use of credit, to better manage their enter21 prises, and to increase their income and build their

22 assets;

23 ‘‘(C) capacity building for microfinance institu24 tions in order to enable them to better meet the

25 credit and training needs of microentrepreneurs; and
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1 ‘‘(D) policy and regulatory programs at the

2 country level that improve the environment for

3 microfinance institutions that serve the poor and

4 very poor.

5 ‘‘(2) Assistance authorized under paragraph (1) shall

6 be provided through organizations that have a capacity to

7 develop and implement microenterprise programs, includ8 ing particularly—

9 ‘‘(A) United States and indigenous private and

10 voluntary organizations;

11 ‘‘(B) United States and indigenous credit

12 unions and cooperative organizations;

13 ‘‘(C) other indigenous governmental and non14 governmental organizations; or

15 ‘‘(D) business development services, including

16 indigenous craft programs.

17 ‘‘(3) In carrying out sustainable poverty-focused pro18 grams under paragraph (1), 50 percent of all microenter19 prise resources shall be used for direct support of pro20 grams under this subsection through practitioner institu21 tions that provide credit and other financial services to

22 the poorest with loans of $300 or less in 1995 United

23 States dollars and can cover their costs of credit programs

24 with revenue from lending activities or that demonstrate

25 the capacity to do so in a reasonable time period.
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1 ‘‘(4) The President should continue support for cen2 tral mechanisms and missions that—

3 ‘‘(A) provide technical support for field mis4 sions;

5 ‘‘(B) strengthen the institutional development

6 of the intermediary organizations described in para7 graph (2);

8 ‘‘(C) share information relating to the provision

9 of assistance authorized under paragraph (1) be10 tween such field missions and intermediary organiza11 tions; and

12 ‘‘(D) support the development of nonprofit glob13 al microfinance networks, including credit union sys14 tems, that—

15 ‘‘(i) are able to deliver very small loans

16 through a vast grassroots infrastructure based

17 on market principles; and

18 ‘‘(ii) act as wholesale intermediaries pro19 viding a range of services to microfinance retail

20 institutions, including financing, technical as21 sistance, capacity building and safety and

22 soundness accreditation.

23 ‘‘(5) Assistance provided under this subsection may

24 only be used to support microenterprise programs and
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1 may not be used to support programs not directly related

2 to the purposes described in paragraph (1).

3 ‘‘(c) MONITORING SYSTEM.—In order to maximize

4 the sustainable development impact of the assistance au5 thorized under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator of the

6 United States Agency for International Development shall

7 establish a monitoring system that—

8 ‘‘(1) establishes performance goals for such as9 sistance and expresses such goals in an objective and

10 quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;

11 ‘‘(2) establishes performance indicators to be

12 used in measuring or assessing the achievement of

13 the goals and objectives of such assistance;

14 ‘‘(3) provides a basis for recommendations for

15 adjustments to such assistance to enhance the sus16 tainable development impact of such assistance, par17 ticularly the impact of such assistance on the very

18 poor, particularly poor women; and

19 ‘‘(4) provides a basis for recommendations for

20 adjustments to measures for reaching the poorest of

21 the poor, including proposed legislation containing

22 amendments to improve paragraph (3).

23 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) There are authorized

25 to be appropriated $152,000,000 for fiscal year
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1 2000 and $167,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 to carry

2 out this section.

3 ‘‘(B) Amounts appropriated pursuant to the au4 thorization of appropriations under subparagraph

5 (A) are authorized to remain available until ex6 pended.

7 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts au8 thorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1) are

9 in addition to amounts otherwise available to carry

10 out this section.’’.

11 SEC. 5. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

12 CREDITS.

13 Section 108 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

14 (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘SEC. 108. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

16 CREDITS.

17 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—The Congress finds

18 and declares that—

19 ‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter20 prises are a vital factor in the stable growth of de21 veloping countries and in the development and sta22 bility of a free, open, and equitable international

23 economic system; and

24 ‘‘(2) it is, therefore, in the best interests of the

25 United States to assist the development of the enter-
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1 prises of the poor in developing countries and to en2 gage the United States private sector in that proc3 ess.

4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—To carry out the policy set forth in

5 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as6 sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and

7 small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including

8 through—

9 ‘‘(1) loans and guarantees to credit institutions

10 for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred11 it to micro- and small enterprises;

12 ‘‘(2) training programs for lenders in order to

13 enable them to better meet the credit needs of

14 microentrepreneurs; and

15 ‘‘(3) training programs for microentrepreneurs

16 in order to enable them to make better use of credit

17 and to better manage their enterprises.

18 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—The Administrator of

19 the United States Agency for International Development

20 shall establish criteria for determining which entities de21 scribed in subsection (b) are eligible to carry out activities,

22 with respect to micro- and small enterprises, assisted

23 under this section. Such criteria may include the following:
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1 ‘‘(1) The extent to which the recipients of credit

2 from the entity do not have access to the local for3 mal financial sector.

4 ‘‘(2) The extent to which the recipients of credit

5 from the entity are among the poorest people in the

6 country.

7 ‘‘(3) The extent to which the entity is oriented

8 toward working directly with poor women.

9 ‘‘(4) The extent to which the entity recovers its

10 cost of lending to the poor.

11 ‘‘(5) The extent to which the entity implements

12 a plan to become financially sustainable.

13 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Assistance pro14 vided under this section may only be used to support

15 micro- and small enterprise programs and may not be used

16 to support programs not directly related to the purposes

17 described in subsection (b).

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) There are authorized

20 to be appropriated $1,500,000 for each of the fiscal

21 years 2000 and 2001 to carry out this section.

22 ‘‘(B) Amounts authorized to be appropriated

23 under subparagraph (A) shall be made available for

24 the subsidy cost, as defined in section 502(5) of the
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1 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, for activities

2 under this section.

3 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—There are

4 authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for each of

5 the fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the cost of

6 administrative expenses in carrying out this section.

7 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts au8 thorized to be appropriated under this subsection are

9 in addition to amounts otherwise available to carry

10 out this section.’’.

11 SEC. 6. MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY.

12 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

13 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), as amended by this Act,

14 is further amended by adding the following new section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 132. UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY.

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the

17 United States Agency for International Development is

18 authorized to establish a United States Microfinance Loan

19 Facility (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Fa20 cility’) to pool and manage the risk from natural disasters,

21 war or civil conflict, national financial crisis, or short-term

22 financial movements that threaten the long-term develop23 ment of United States-supported microfinance institu24 tions.
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1 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISORY BOARD OF THE FACILITY.—(1)

2 The Facility shall be supervised by a board composed of

3 the following representatives appointed by the President

4 not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment

5 of Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 1999:

6 ‘‘(A) one representative from the Department of

7 the Treasury.

8 ‘‘(B) one representative from the Department

9 of State.

10 ‘‘(C) one representative from the United States

11 Agency for International Development.

12 ‘‘(D)(i) two United States citizens from United

13 States nongovernmental organizations that operate

14 United States-sponsored microfinance activities.

15 ‘‘(ii) Individuals described in clause (i) shall be

16 appointed for a term of 2 years.

17 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of the United States Agency

18 for International Development or his designee shall serve

19 as Chairman and an additional voting member of the

20 board.

21 ‘‘(c) DISBURSEMENTS.—(1) The board shall make

22 disbursements from the Facility to United States-spon23 sored microfinance institutions to prevent the bankruptcy

24 of such institutions caused by: (A) natural disasters, (B)

25 national wars or civil conflict, or (C) national financial cri-
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1 sis or other short term financial movements that threaten

2 the long-term development of United States-supported

3 microfinance institutions. Such disbursements shall be

4 made as concessional loans that are repaid maintaining

5 the real value of the loan to microfinance institutions that

6 demonstrate the capacity to resume self-sustained oper7 ations within a reasonable time period. The Facility shall

8 provide for loan losses with each loan disbursed.

9 ‘‘(2) During each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002,

10 funds may not be made available from the Facility until

11 15 days after notification of the availability has been pro12 vided to the congressional committees specified in section

13 634A of this Act in accordance with the procedures appli14 cable to reprogramming notifications under that section.

15 ‘‘(d) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) POLICY PROVISIONS.—In providing the

17 credit assistance authorized by this section, the

18 board should apply, as appropriate, the policy provi19 sions in this part applicable to development assist20 ance activities.

21 ‘‘(2) DEFAULT AND PROCUREMENT PROVI22 SIONS.—

23 ‘‘(A) DEFAULT PROVISION.—The provi24 sions of section 620(q) of this Act, or any com25 parable provisions of law, shall not be construed
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1 to prohibit assistance to a country in the event

2 that a private sector recipient of assistance fur3 nished under this section is in default in its

4 payment to the United States for the period

5 specified in such section.

6 ‘‘(B) PROCUREMENT PROVISION.—Assist7 ance may be provided under this section with8 out regard to section 604(a) of this Act.

9 ‘‘(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CREDIT AS10 SISTANCE.—(A) Credit assistance provided under

11 this section shall be offered on such terms and con12 ditions, including fees charged, as the board may de13 termine.

14 ‘‘(B) The principal amount of loans made or

15 guaranteed under this section in any fiscal year,

16 with respect to any single borrower, may not exceed

17 $30,000,000.

18 ‘‘(C) No payment may be made under any

19 guarantee issued under this section for any loss aris20 ing out of fraud or misrepresentation for which the

21 party seeking payment is responsible.

22 ‘‘(4) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—All guarantees

23 issued under this section shall constitute obligations,

24 in accordance with the terms of such guarantees, of

25 the United States of America and the full faith and
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1 credit of the United States of America is hereby

2 pledged for the full payment and performance of

3 such obligations to the extent of the guarantee.

4 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

5 on which the last representative to the board is appointed

6 pursuant to subsection (b), the chairman of the board

7 shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional

8 committees a report on the policies, rules, and regulations

9 of the Facility.

10 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—(1)(A) Of the amounts made avail11 able to carry out this part for each of the fiscal years 2000

12 and 2001, up to $5,000,000 may be made available for—

13 ‘‘(i) the subsidy cost, as defined in section

14 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990,

15 to carry out this section; and

16 ‘‘(ii) subject to subparagraph (B), the cost of

17 administrative expenses to carry out this section.

18 ‘‘(B) Of the amount made available under subpara19 graph (A) to carry out this section for a fiscal year, not

20 more than $500,000 may be made available for adminis21 trative expenses under subparagraph (A)(ii).

22 ‘‘(2) Amounts made available under paragraph (1)

23 are in addition to amounts available under any other pro24 vision of law to carry out this section.

25 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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1 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’ means the Committee on International Re4 lations of the House of Representatives and the

5 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

6 ‘‘(2) UNITED STATES-SUPPORTED MICRO7 FINANCE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘United States8 supported microfinance institution’ means a finan9 cial intermediary that has received funds made avail10 able under this Act for fiscal year 1980 or any sub11 sequent fiscal year.’’.

12 SEC. 7. REPORT RELATING TO FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF

13 MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS.

14 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

15 of the enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation

16 with the Administrator of the United States Agency for

17 International Development, the Secretary of State, and

18 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prepare and transmit

19 to the appropriate congressional committees a report on

20 the most cost-effective methods for increasing the access

21 of poor people to credit, other financial services, and re22 lated training.

23 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection

24 (a)—
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1 (1) should include how the President, in con2 sultation with the Administrator of the United

3 States Agency for International Development, the

4 Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the Treas5 ury, will jointly develop a comprehensive strategy for

6 advancing the global microenterprise sector in a way

7 that maintains market principles while assuring that

8 the very poor, particularly women, obtain access to

9 financial services; and

10 (2) shall provide guidelines and recommenda11 tions for—

12 (A) instruments to assist microenterprise

13 networks to develop multi-country and regional

14 microlending programs;

15 (B) technical assistance to foreign govern16 ments, foreign central banks and regulatory en17 tities to improve the policy environment for

18 microfinance institutions, and to strengthen the

19 capacity of supervisory bodies to supervise

20 microcredit institutions;

21 (C) the potential for federal chartering of

22 United States-based international microfinance

23 network institutions, including proposed legisla24 tion;
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1 (D) instruments to increase investor con2 fidence in microcredit institutions which would

3 strengthen the long-term financial position of

4 the microcredit institutions and attract capital

5 from private sector entities and individuals,

6 such as a rating system for microcredit institu7 tions and local credit bureaus;

8 (E) an agenda for integrating microfinance

9 into United States foreign policy initiatives

10 seeking to develop and strengthen the global fi11 nance sector; and

12 (F) innovative instruments to attract funds

13 from the capital markets, such as instruments

14 for leveraging funds from the local commercial

15 banking sector, and the securitization of

16 microloan portfolios.

17 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE18 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres19 sional committees’’ means the Committee on International

20 Relations of the House of Representatives and the Com21 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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1 SEC. 8. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DE2 VELOPMENT AS GLOBAL LEADER AND COOR3 DINATOR OF BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL

4 MICROENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES.

5 (a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—The Congress finds and

6 declares that—

7 (1) the United States can provide leadership to

8 other bilateral and multilateral development agencies

9 as such agencies expand their support to the micro10 enterprise sector; and

11 (2) the United States should seek to improve

12 coordination among G-7 countries in the support of

13 the microenterprise sector in order to leverage the

14 investment of the United States with that of other

15 donor nations.

16 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

17 the Congress that—

18 (1) the Administrator of the United States

19 Agency for International Development and the Sec20 retary of State should seek to support and strength21 en the effectiveness of microfinance activities in

22 United Nations agencies, such as the International

23 Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the

24 United Nations Development Program (UNDP),

25 which have provided key leadership in developing the

26 microenterprise sector; and
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1 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury should in2 struct each United States Executive Director of the

3 Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to advo4 cate the development of a coherent and coordinated

5 strategy to support the microenterprise sector and

6 an increase of multilateral resource flows for the

7 purposes of building microenterprise retail and

8 wholesale intermediaries.

Passed the House of Representatives April 13, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.