Union Calendar No. 44

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1143

[Report No. 106–82]

A BILL

To establish a program to provide assistance for

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

APRIL 12, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 44

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1143

[Report No. 106–82]

To establish a program to provide assistance for programs of credit and

other financial services for microenterprises in developing countries, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. HALL of

Ohio, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. GOODLING, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. PAYNE,

Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr.

MEEHAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ANDREWS, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs.

MORELLA, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. TANCREDO,

Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. LAFALCE, and Mr.

GREENWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

APRIL 12, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

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,
2

•HR 1143 RH

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,
3

•HR 1143 RH

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. While this scale of outreach may not be

23 achievable in this short timeframe, the realization of

24 this goal could dramatically alter the face of global

25 poverty.
4

•HR 1143 RH

1 (B) With an average family size of five, achiev2 ing this goal will mean that the benefits of micro3 finance will thereby reach nearly half of the world’s

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

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

6 those that comprise the Microenterprise Coalition

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

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

9 the Foundation for International Community Assist10 ance (FINCA), and the credit union movement) are

11 successful in lending directly to the very poor.

12 (B) Microfinance institutions such as BRAC

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

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

15 institutions that can raise funds directly from the

16 local and international capital markets.

17 (8)(A) Microenterprise institutions not only re18 duce poverty, but also reduce the dependency on for19 eign assistance.

20 (B) Interest income on the credit portfolio is

21 used to pay recurring institutional costs, assuring

22 the long-term sustainability of development assist23 ance.
5

•HR 1143 RH

1 (9) Microfinance institutions leverage foreign

2 assistance resources because loans are recycled, gen3 erating new benefits to program participants.

4 (10)(A) The development of sustainable micro5 finance institutions that provide credit and training,

6 and mobilize domestic savings, are critical compo7 nents to a global strategy of poverty reduction and

8 broad-based economic development.

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

10 the development of a new global financial architec11 ture, microenterprise should play a vital role. The

12 recent shocks to international financial markets

13 demonstrate how the financial sector can shape the

14 destiny of nations. Microfinance can serve as a pow15 erful tool for building a more inclusive financial sec16 tor which serves the broad majority of the world’s

17 population including the very poor and women and

18 thus generate more social stability and prosperity.

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

20 States has been a global leader in promoting the

21 global microenterprise sector, primarily through its

22 development assistance programs at the United

23 States Agency for International Development. Addi24 tionally, the United States Department of the Treas25 ury and the Department of State have used their au-
6

•HR 1143 RH

1 thority to promote microenterprise in the develop2 ment programs of international financial institutions

3 and the United Nations.

4 (11)(A) In 1994, the United States Agency for

5 International Development launched the ‘‘Micro6 enterprise Initiative’’ in partnership with the Con7 gress.

8 (B) The initiative committed to expanding

9 funding for the microenterprise programs of the

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

11 1996, half of all microenterprise resources would

12 support programs and institutions that provide cred13 it to the poorest, with loans under $300.

14 (C) In order to achieve the goal of the micro15 credit summit, increased investment in microcredit

16 institutions serving the poorest will be critical.

17 (12) Providing the United States share of the

18 global investment needed to achieve the goal of the

19 microcredit summit will require only a small increase

20 in United States funding for international micro21 credit programs, with an increased focus on institu22 tions serving the poorest.

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

24 poorest with microcredit, it is crucial to expand and

25 replicate successful microcredit institutions.
7

•HR 1143 RH

1 (B) These institutions need assistance in devel2 oping their institutional capacity to expand their

3 services and tap commercial sources of capital.

4 (14) Nongovernmental organizations have dem5 onstrated competence in developing networks of local

6 microfinance institutions and other assistance deliv7 ery mechanisms so that they reach large numbers of

8 the very poor, and achieve financial sustainability.

9 (15) Recognizing that the United States Agency

10 for International Development has developed very ef11 fective partnerships with nongovernmental organiza12 tions, and that the Agency will have fewer missions

13 to carry out its work, the Agency should place pri14 ority on investing in those nongovernmental network

15 institutions that meet performance criteria through

16 the central funding mechanisms of the Agency.

17 (16) By expanding and replicating successful

18 microcredit institutions, it should be possible to cre19 ate a global infrastructure to provide financial serv20 ices to the world’s poorest families.

21 (17)(A) The United States can provide leader22 ship to other bilateral and multilateral development

23 agencies as such agencies expand their support to

24 the microenterprise sector.
8

•HR 1143 RH

1 (B) The United States should seek to improve

2 coordination among G–7 countries in the support of

3 the microenterprise sector in order to leverage the

4 investment of the United States with that of other

5 donor nations.

6 (18) Through increased support for microenter7 prise, especially credit for the poorest, the United

8 States can continue to play a leadership role in the

9 global effort to expand financial services and oppor10 tunity to 100,000,000 of the poorest families on the

11 planet.

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

13 The purposes of this Act are—

14 (1) to make microenterprise development an im15 portant element of United States foreign economic

16 policy and assistance;

17 (2) to provide for the continuation and expan18 sion of the commitment of the United States Agency

19 for International Development to the development of

20 microenterprise institutions as outlined in its 1994

21 Microenterprise Initiative;

22 (3) to support and develop the capacity of

23 United States and indigenous nongovernmental or24 ganization intermediaries to provide credit, savings,
9

•HR 1143 RH

1 training and technical services to microentre2 preneurs;

3 (4) to increase the amount of assistance de4 voted to credit activities designed to reach the poor5 est sector in developing countries, and to improve

6 the access of the poorest, particularly women, to

7 microenterprise credit in developing countries; and

8 (5) to encourage the United States Agency for

9 International Development to coordinate micro10 finance policy, in consultation with the Department

11 of the Treasury and the Department of State, and

12 to provide global leadership in promoting micro13 enterprise for the poorest among bilateral and multi14 lateral donors.

15 SEC. 4. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST16 ANCE.

17 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

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

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

20 added by section 4 of the Torture Victims Relief Act

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

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec23 tion:
10

•HR 1143 RH

1 ‘‘SEC. 131. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT AS2 SISTANCE.

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

4 and declares that—

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

6 vital factor in the stable growth of developing coun7 tries and in the development of free, open, and equi8 table international economic systems;

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

10 United States to assist the development of micro11 enterprises in developing countries; and

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

13 served by programs providing credit, savings, train14 ing, and technical assistance.

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

16 the President is authorized to provide grant assistance for

17 programs to increase the availability of credit and other

18 services to microenterprises lacking full access to capital

19 and training through—

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

21 purpose of expanding the availability of credit, sav22 ings, and other financial services to microentre23 preneurs;

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

25 support for microenterprises to enable them to make

26 better use of credit, to better manage their enter-
11

•HR 1143 RH

1 prises, and to increase their income and build their

2 assets;

3 ‘‘(C) capacity building for microfinance institu4 tions in order to enable them to better meet the

5 credit and training needs of microentrepreneurs; and

6 ‘‘(D) policy and regulatory programs at the

7 country level that improve the environment for

8 microfinance institutions that serve the poor and

9 very poor.

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

11 be provided through organizations that have a capacity to

12 develop and implement microenterprise programs, includ13 ing particularly—

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

15 voluntary organizations;

16 ‘‘(B) United States and indigenous credit

17 unions and cooperative organizations;

18 ‘‘(C) other indigenous governmental and non19 governmental organizations; or

20 ‘‘(D) business development services, including

21 indigenous craft programs.

22 ‘‘(3) In carrying out sustainable poverty-focused pro23 grams under paragraph (1), 50 percent of all microenter24 prise resources shall be used for direct support of pro25 grams under this subsection through practitioner institu-
12

•HR 1143 RH

1 tions that provide credit and other financial services to

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

3 States dollars and can cover their costs of credit programs

4 with revenue from lending activities or that demonstrate

5 the capacity to do so in a reasonable time period.

6 ‘‘(4) The President should continue support for cen7 tral mechanisms and missions that—

8 ‘‘(A) provide technical support for field mis9 sions;

10 ‘‘(B) strengthen the institutional development

11 of the intermediary organizations described in para12 graph (2);

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

14 of assistance authorized under paragraph (1) be15 tween such field missions and intermediary organiza16 tions; and

17 ‘‘(D) support the development of nonprofit glob18 al microfinance networks, including credit union sys19 tems, that—

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

21 through a vast grassroots infrastructure based

22 on market principles; and

23 ‘‘(ii) act as wholesale intermediaries pro24 viding a range of services to microfinance retail

25 institutions, including financing, technical as-
13

•HR 1143 RH

1 sistance, capacity building and safety and

2 soundness accreditation.

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

4 only be used to support microenterprise programs and

5 may not be used to support programs not directly related

6 to the purposes described in paragraph (1).

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

8 the sustainable development impact of the assistance au9 thorized under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator of the

10 United States Agency for International Development shall

11 establish a monitoring system that—

12 ‘‘(1) establishes performance goals for such as13 sistance and expresses such goals in an objective and

14 quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;

15 ‘‘(2) establishes performance indicators to be

16 used in measuring or assessing the achievement of

17 the goals and objectives of such assistance;

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

19 adjustments to such assistance to enhance the sus20 tainable development impact of such assistance, par21 ticularly the impact of such assistance on the very

22 poor, particularly poor women; and

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

24 adjustments to measures for reaching the poorest of
14

•HR 1143 RH

1 the poor, including proposed legislation containing

2 amendments to improve paragraph (3).

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

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

5 to be appropriated $152,000,000 for fiscal year

6 2000 and $167,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 to carry

7 out this section.

8 ‘‘(B) Amounts appropriated pursuant to the au9 thorization of appropriations under subparagraph

10 (A) are authorized to remain available until ex11 pended.

12 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts au13 thorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1) are

14 in addition to amounts otherwise available to carry

15 out this section.’’.

16 SEC. 5. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

17 CREDITS.

18 Section 108 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

19 (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended to read as follows:

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

21 CREDITS.

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

23 and declares that—

24 ‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter25 prises are a vital factor in the stable growth of de-
15

•HR 1143 RH

1 veloping countries and in the development and sta2 bility of a free, open, and equitable international

3 economic system; and

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

5 United States to assist the development of the enter6 prises of the poor in developing countries and to en7 gage the United States private sector in that proc8 ess.

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

10 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as11 sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and

12 small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including

13 through—

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

15 for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred16 it to micro- and small enterprises;

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

18 enable them to better meet the credit needs of

19 microentrepreneurs; and

20 ‘‘(3) training programs for microentrepreneurs

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

22 and to better manage their enterprises.

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

24 the United States Agency for International Development

25 shall establish criteria for determining which entities de-
16

•HR 1143 RH

1 scribed in subsection (b) are eligible to carry out activities,

2 with respect to micro- and small enterprises, assisted

3 under this section. Such criteria may include the following:

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

5 from the entity do not have access to the local for6 mal financial sector.

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

8 from the entity are among the poorest people in the

9 country.

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

11 toward working directly with poor women.

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

13 cost of lending to the poor.

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

15 a plan to become financially sustainable.

16 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Assistance pro17 vided under this section may only be used to support

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

19 to support programs not directly related to the purposes

20 described in subsection (b).

21 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

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

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

24 years 2000 and 2001 to carry out this section.
17

•HR 1143 RH

1 ‘‘(B) Amounts authorized to be appropriated

2 under subparagraph (A) shall be made available for

3 the subsidy cost, as defined in section 502(5) of the

4 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, for activities

5 under this section.

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

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

8 the fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the cost of

9 administrative expenses in carrying out this section.

10 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts au11 thorized to be appropriated under this subsection are

12 in addition to amounts otherwise available to carry

13 out this section.’’.

14 SEC. 6. MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY.

15 Chapter 1 of part 1 of the Foreign Assistance Act

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

17 is further amended by adding the following new section:

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

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

20 United States Agency for International Development is

21 authorized to establish a United States Microfinance Loan

22 Facility (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Fa23 cility’) to pool and manage the risk from natural disasters,

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

25 financial movements that threaten the long-term develop-
18

•HR 1143 RH

1 ment of United States-supported microfinance institu2 tions.

3 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISORY BOARD OF THE FACILITY.—(1)

4 The Facility shall be supervised by a board composed of

5 the following representatives appointed by the President

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

7 of Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 1999:

8 ‘‘(A) 1 representative from the Department of

9 the Treasury.

10 ‘‘(B) 1 representative from the Department of

11 State.

12 ‘‘(C) 1 representative from the United States

13 Agency for International Development.

14 ‘‘(D)(i) 2 United States citizens from United

15 States nongovernmental organizations that operate

16 United States-sponsored microfinance activities.

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

18 appointed for a term of 2 years.

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

20 for International Development or his designee shall serve

21 as Chairman and an additional voting member of the

22 board.

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

24 disbursements from the Facility to United States-spon25 sored microfinance institutions to prevent the bankruptcy
19

•HR 1143 RH

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

2 national wars or civil conflict, and (C) national financial

3 crisis or other short term financial movements that threat4 en the long-term development of United States-supported

5 microfinance institutions. Such disbursements shall be

6 made as concessional loans that are repaid maintaining

7 the real value of the loan to microfinance institutions that

8 demonstrate the capacity to resume self-sustained oper9 ations within a reasonable time period. The Facility shall

10 provide for loan losses with each loan disbursed.

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

12 funds may not be made available from the Facility until

13 15 days after notification of the availability has been pro14 vided to the congressional committees specified in section

15 634A of this Act in accordance with the procedures appli16 cable to reprogramming notifications under that section.

17 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

18 on which the last representative to the board is appointed

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

20 shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional

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

22 of the Facility.

23 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—(1) Not more than $5,000,000 of

24 amounts made available to carry out sections 103 through

25 106 of this Act for each of the fiscal years 2000 and 2001
20

•HR 1143 RH

1 may be made available to carry out this section for each

2 such fiscal year.

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

4 are in addition to amounts available under other provi5 sions of law to carry out this section.

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

7 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’ means the Committee on International Re10 lations of the House of Representatives and the

11 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

12 ‘‘(2) UNITED STATES-SUPPORTED MICRO13 FINANCE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘United States14 supported microfinance institution’ means a finan15 cial intermediary that has received funds made avail16 able under this Act for fiscal year 1980 and each

17 subsequent fiscal year.’’.

18 SEC. 7. REPORT RELATING TO FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF

19 MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS.

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

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

22 with the Administrator of the United States Agency for

23 International Development, the Secretary of State, and

24 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prepare and transmit

25 to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
21

•HR 1143 RH

1 the most cost-effective methods for increasing the access

2 of poor people to credit, other financial services, and re3 lated training.

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

5 (a)—

6 (1) should include how the President, in con7 sultation with the Administrator of the United

8 States Agency for International Development, the

9 Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the Treas10 ury, will jointly develop a comprehensive strategy for

11 advancing the global microenterprise sector in a way

12 that maintains market principles while assuring that

13 the very poor, particularly women, obtain access to

14 financial services; and

15 (2) shall provide guidelines and recommenda16 tions for—

17 (A) instruments to assist microenterprise

18 networks to develop multi-country and regional

19 microlending programs;

20 (B) technical assistance to foreign govern21 ments, foreign central banks and regulatory en22 tities to improve the policy environment for

23 microfinance institutions, and to strengthen the

24 capacity of supervisory bodies to supervise

25 microcredit institutions;
22

•HR 1143 RH

1 (C) the potential for federal chartering of

2 United States-based international microfinance

3 network institutions, including proposed legisla4 tion;

5 (D) instruments to increase investor con6 fidence in microcredit institutions which would

7 strengthen the long-term financial position of

8 the microcredit institutions and attract capital

9 from private sector entities and individuals,

10 such as a rating system for microcredit institu11 tions and local credit bureaus;

12 (E) an agenda for integrating microfinance

13 into United States foreign policy initiatives

14 seeking to develop and strengthen the global fi15 nance sector; and

16 (F) innovative instruments to attract funds

17 from the capital markets, such as instruments

18 for leveraging funds from the local commercial

19 banking sector, and the securitization of

20 microloan portfolios.

21 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE22 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres23 sional committees’’ means the Committee on International

24 Relations of the House of Representatives and the Com25 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
23

•HR 1143 RH

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
24

•HR 1143 RH

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.