IB 

Union Calendar No. 553 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5480 

[Report No. 115–718] 

To improve programs and activities relating to women’s entrepreneurship 

and economic empowerment that are carried out by the United States 

Agency for International Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. ROYCE of California (for himself, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. WAGNER, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

JUNE 8, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MCCAUL, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. TITUS, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. CICILLINE, and Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana 

JUNE 8, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 12, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To improve programs and activities relating to women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment that are carried out by the United States Agency for International 

Development, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Women’s Entrepreneur5 ship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Because women make up the majority of the 

9 world’s poor and gender inequalities prevail in in10 comes, wages, access to finance, ownership of assets, 

11 and control over the allocation of resources, women’s 

12 entrepreneurship and economic empowerment is im13 portant to achieve inclusive economic growth at all 

14 levels of society. Research shows that when women 

15 exert greater influence over household finances, eco16 nomic outcomes for families improve, and childhood 

17 survival rates, food security, and educational attain18 ment increase. Women also tend to place a greater 

19 emphasis on household savings which improves fami20 lies’ financial resiliency. 

21 (2) A 2016 report by the McKinsey Global Insti22 tute estimated that achieving global gender parity in 

23 economic activity could add as much as $28 trillion 

24 to annual global gross domestic product (GDP) by 

25 2025. 


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1 (3) Lack of access to financial services that ad2 dress gender-specific constraints impedes women’s eco3 nomic inclusion. More than one billion women 

4 around the world are currently left out of the formal 

5 financial system, which in turn causes many women 

6 to rely on informal means of saving and borrowing 

7 that are riskier and less reliable. Among other con8 sequences, this hampers the success of women entre9 preneurs, including those seeking to run or grow 

10 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The 

11 International Finance Corporation has estimated that 

12 70 percent of women-owned SMEs in the formal sec13 tor are unserved or underserved in terms of access to 

14 credit, amounting to a $285 billion credit gap. 

15 (4) Women’s economic empowerment is inex16 tricably linked to a myriad of other women’s human 

17 rights that are essential to their ability to thrive as 

18 economic actors across the lifecycle. This includes, but 

19 is not limited to, living lives free of violence and ex20 ploitation, achieving the highest possible standard of 

21 health and well-being, enjoying full legal and human 

22 rights such as access to registration, identification, 

23 and citizenship documents, benefitting from formal 

24 and informal education, and equal protection of and 

25 access to land and property rights, access to fundaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5480.RH H5480

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1 mental labor rights, policies to address dispropor2 tionate care burdens, and business and management 

3 skills and leadership opportunities. 

4 (5) Discriminatory legal and regulatory systems 

5 and banking practices are hurdles to women’s access 

6 to capital and assets, including land, machinery, pro7 duction facilities, technology, and human resources. 

8 Often, these barriers are connected to a woman’s mar9 ital status, which can determine whether she is able 

10 to inherit land or own property in her name. These 

11 constraints contribute to women frequently running 

12 smaller businesses, with fewer employees and lower 

13 asset values. 

14 (6) Savings groups primarily comprised of 

15 women are recognized as a vital entry point, espe16 cially for poor and very poor women, to formal finan17 cial services and there is a high demand for such 

18 groups to protect and grow their savings with formal 

19 financial institutions. Evidence shows that, once 

20 linked to a bank, the average savings per member in21 creases between 40 to 100 percent and the average 

22 profit per member doubles. Key to these outcomes is 

23 investing in financial literacy, business leadership 

24 training, and mentorship. 


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1 (7) United States support for microenterprise 

2 and microfinance development programs, which seek 

3 to reduce poverty in low-income countries by giving 

4 small loans to small-scale entrepreneurs without col5 lateral, have been a useful mechanism to help families 

6 weather economic shocks, but many microcredit bor7 rowers largely remain in poverty. The vast majority 

8 of microcredit borrowers are women who would like to 

9 move up the economic ladder but are held back by 

10 binding constraints that create a ‘‘missing middle’’– 

11 large numbers of microenterprises, a handful of large 

12 firms or conglomerates, and very few SMEs in be13 tween, which are critical to driving economic growth 

14 in developing countries. 

15 (8) According to the World Bank, SMEs create 

16 4 out of 5 new positions in emerging markets but 

17 about half of formal SMEs don’t have access to formal 

18 credit. The financing gap is even larger when micro 

19 and informal enterprises are taken into account. 

20 Overall, approximately 70 percent of all micro, small 

21 and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging 

22 markets lack access to credit. 


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1 SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO IMPROVE GENDER POLICIES OF THE 

2 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTER3 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

4 (a) DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION POLICY.—It shall be 

5 the development cooperation policy of the United States— 

6 (1) to reduce gender disparities in access to, con7 trol over, and benefit from economic, social, political, 

8 and cultural resources, wealth, opportunities, and 

9 services; 

10 (2) to strive to eliminate gender-based violence 

11 and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and 

12 communities through efforts to develop standards and 

13 capacity to reduce gender-based violence in the work14 place and other places where women conduct work; 

15 (3) to support activities that secure private prop16 erty rights and land tenure for women in developing 

17 countries, including legal frameworks to give women 

18 equal rights to own, register, use, profit from, and in19 herit land and property, legal literacy to exercise 

20 these rights, and capacity of law enforcement and 

21 community leaders to enforce such rights; and 

22 (4) to increase the capability of women and girls 

23 to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, 

24 assume leadership roles, and influence decision-mak25 ing in households, communities, and societies. 


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1 (b) ACTIONS.—In order to advance the policy described 

2 in subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States 

3 Agency for International Development shall ensure that— 

4 (1) strategies, projects, and activities of the 

5 Agency are shaped by a gender analysis and, when 

6 applicable, use standard indicators to provide one 

7 measure of success of such strategies, projects, and ac8 tivities; and 

9 (2) gender equality and female empowerment is 

10 integrated throughout the Agency’s Program Cycle 

11 and related processes for purposes of strategic plan12 ning, project design and implementation, and moni13 toring and evaluation. 

14 (c) GENDER ANALYSIS DEFINED.—In this section, the 

15 term ‘‘gender analysis’’— 

16 (1) means a socio-economic analysis of available 

17 or gathered quantitative and qualitative information 

18 to identify, understand, and explain gaps between 

19 men and women which typically involves exam20 ining— 

21 (A) differences in the status of women and 

22 men and their differential access to and control 

23 over assets, resources, opportunities, and services; 

24 (B) the influence of gender roles, structural 

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1 tween paid employment, unpaid work (including 

2 subsistence production and care for family mem3 bers), and volunteer activities; 

4 (C) the influence of gender roles, structural 

5 barriers, and norms on leadership roles and deci6 sion making; constraints, opportunities, and 

7 entry points for narrowing gender gaps and em8 powering women; and 

9 (D) potential differential impacts of devel10 opment policies and programs on men and 

11 women, including unintended or negative con12 sequences; and 

13 (2) includes conclusions and recommendations to 

14 enable development policies and programs to narrow 

15 gender gaps and improve the lives of women and 

16 girls. 

17 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR MICRO, SMALL 

18 AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES. 

19 (a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 251 of the For20 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and in23 serting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enter24 prise’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘and in the development’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘, in the development’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end before the period 

4 the following: ‘‘, and in the economic empower5 ment of the poor, especially women’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and in8 serting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enter9 prise’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end before the period 

11 the following: ‘‘, particularly those enterprises 

12 owned, managed, and controlled by women’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘microenter14 prises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium15 sized enterprises’’; 

16 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenter17 prise’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 

18 enterprise’’; 

19 (5) in paragraph (5)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘should continue’’ and in21 serting ‘‘should continue and be expanded’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise and micro23 finance development assistance’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘development assistance for micro, small and 

25 medium-sized enterprises’’; and 


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1 (6) in paragraph (6)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘have been successful’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘have had some success’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise programs’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘development assistance for micro, 

6 small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘, such as countries in 

8 Latin America’’. 

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED

10 ASSISTANCE.—Section 252 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

11 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a) is amended as follows: 

12 (1) In subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

14 (1)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘credit, savings, and 

16 other services’’ and inserting ‘‘credit, in17 cluding the use of innovative credit scoring 

18 models, savings, financial technology, finan19 cial literacy, insurance, property rights, 

20 and other services’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi22 croenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 

23 small and medium-sized enterprise clients’’; 

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1 ing ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enterprise 

2 clients, particularly those clients owned, man3 aged, and controlled by women’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘microenterprises’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 

7 enterprises’’; and 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘acquire United 

9 States goods and services,’’ after ‘‘United 

10 States markets,’’; 

11 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi13 croenterprise institutions’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘financial intermediaries’’; 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi16 croenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 

17 small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 

18 (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (E) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi21 croenterprise clients and institutions’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 

23 enterprises, financial intermediaries, and 

24 capital markets’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘the poor and very 

2 poor.’’ and inserting ‘‘the poor and very 

3 poor, especially women;’’; and 

4 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) assistance for the purpose of promoting the 

6 economic empowerment of women, including through 

7 increased access to financial resources and improving 

8 property rights, inheritance rights, and other legal 

9 protections; and 

10 ‘‘(6) assistance for the purpose of scaling up evi11 dence-based graduation approaches, which include 

12 targeting the very poor and households in ultra-pov13 erty, consumption support, promotion of savings, 

14 skills training, and asset transfers.’’. 

15 (2) In subsection (b)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1) to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be es18 tablished within the Agency an office to support the 

19 Agency’s efforts to broaden and deepen local financial 

20 markets, expand access to appropriate financial prod21 ucts and services, and support the development of 

22 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The Office 

23 shall be headed by a Director who shall possess tech24 nical expertise and ability to offer leadership in the 

25 field of financial sector development.’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

3 (I) by striking ‘‘USE OF CENTRAL

4 FUNDING MECHANISMS.—’’ and all 

5 that follows through ‘‘In order to en6 sure’’ and inserting ‘‘USE OF CENTRAL

7 FUNDING MECHANISMS.—In order to 

8 ensure’’; 

9 (II) by striking ‘‘the office shall’’ 

10 and all that follows through ‘‘and other 

11 practitioners’’ and inserting ‘‘the office 

12 shall provide coordination and support 

13 for field-implemented programs, in14 cluding through targeted core support 

15 for micro, small and medium-sized en16 terprises and local financial markets’’; 

17 and 

18 (III) by striking clause (ii); 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (I) by inserting ‘‘, particularly by 

21 protecting the use and funding of local 

22 organizations in countries in which the 

23 Agency invests,’’ after ‘‘and sustain24 ability’’; and 


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1 (II) by inserting ‘‘, especially 

2 women’’ after ‘‘the poor and very 

3 poor’’; and 

4 (C) by striking paragraph (3). 

5 (3) In subsection (c)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘all microenterprise re7 sources’’ and inserting ‘‘all micro, small and me8 dium-sized enterprise resources’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘clients who are very poor.’’ 

10 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘activities 

11 that reach the very poor, and 50 percent of all 

12 small and medium-sized enterprise resources 

13 shall be targeted to activities that reach enter14 prises owned, managed, and controlled by 

15 women.’’. 

16 (c) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 253(b) of the For17 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211b(b)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including 

20 goals on a gender disaggregated basis, such as im21 provements in employment, access to financial serv22 ices, enterprise development, earnings and control 

23 over income, and property and land rights,’’ after 

24 ‘‘performance goals’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘include per2 formance indicators’’ and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘the achievement’’ and inserting ‘‘incorporate Agency 

4 planning and reporting processes and indicators to 

5 measure or assess the achievement’’; and 

6 (3) by striking paragraph (4). 

7 (d) POVERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS.—Section 254 

8 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211c) 

9 is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 254. POVERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS. 

11 ‘‘The Administrator of the Agency, in consultation 

12 with financial intermediaries and other appropriate orga13 nizations, should have in place at least one method for im14 plementing partners to use to assess poverty levels of their 

15 current incoming or prospective clients.’’. 

16 (e) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Section 255 of the 

17 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211d) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘assistance for microenterprise 

20 development assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘development 

21 assistance for micro, small and medium-sized enter22 prises’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘and, to the extent applicable’’ 

24 and all that follows and inserting a period. 


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1 (f) MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.—Sec2 tion 256 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

3 2212) is amended— 

4 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MICRO5 ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS’’ and in6 serting ‘‘DEVELOPMENT CREDITS FOR MICRO, 

7 SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘micro10 and small enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 

11 small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘micro13 enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and 

14 medium-sized enterprises’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

16 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and other financial 

17 services’’ after ‘‘credit’’; 

18 (4) by striking ‘‘microenterprise households’’ 

19 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘micro, small 

20 and medium-sized enterprises and households’’; and 

21 (5) by striking ‘‘microfinance institutions’’ each 

22 place it appears and inserting ‘‘financial inter23 mediaries’’. 


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1 (g) UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACIL2 ITY.—Section 257 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

3 U.S.C. 2213) is amended— 

4 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘UNITED

5 STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘UNITED STATES MICRO, SMALL AND

7 MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE LOAN FACILITY’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘United States Microfinance 

10 Loan Facility’’ and inserting ‘‘United States 

11 Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise 

12 Loan Facility’’; and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported 

14 microfinance institutions’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘United States-supported financial inter16 mediaries’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘United States-supported 

19 microfinance institutions’’ each place it appears 

20 and inserting ‘‘United States-supported finan21 cial intermediaries’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘micro23 finance institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘financial 

24 intermediaries’’. 


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1 (h) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Subsection (b) of section 

2 258 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214) 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—To the extent practicable, the report 

5 should contain the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Information about assistance provided 

7 under section 252, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) the amount of each grant or other form 

9 of assistance; 

10 ‘‘(B) the name and type of each inter11 mediary and implementing partner organization 

12 receiving assistance; 

13 ‘‘(C) the name of each country receiving as14 sistance; and 

15 ‘‘(D) the methodology used to ensure compli16 ance with the targeted assistance requirements in 

17 subsection (c) of such section. 

18 ‘‘(2) The percentage of assistance provided under 

19 section 252 disaggregated by income level, including 

20 for the very poor, and gender. 

21 ‘‘(3) The estimated number of individuals that 

22 received assistance provided under section 252 

23 disaggregated by income level, including for the very 

24 poor, and gender, and by type of assistance, including 

25 loans, training, and business development services. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The results of the monitoring system re2 quired under section 253. 

3 ‘‘(5) Information about any method in place to 

4 assess poverty levels under section 254.’’. 

5 (i) DEFINITIONS.—Section 259 of the Foreign Assist6 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214a) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Committee on 

8 International Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee 

9 on Foreign Affairs’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenter11 prises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium12 sized enterprises’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (6)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘mi15 croenterprise institution’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 

16 small and medium-sized enterprise institution’’; 

17 and 

18 (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

19 ‘‘microfinance institution’’ and inserting ‘‘finan20 cial intermediary’’; 

21 (4) in paragraph (7) to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(7) MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTER23 PRISE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘micro, small and me24 dium-sized enterprise institution’ means an entity 

25 that provides services, including finance, training, or 


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1 business development services, for micro, small and 

2 medium-sized enterprises in foreign countries.’’; 

3 (5) in paragraph (8) to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(8) FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘fi5 nancial intermediary’ means the entity that acts as 

6 the intermediary between parties in a financial 

7 transaction, such as a bank, credit union, investment 

8 fund, a village savings and loan group, or an institu9 tion that provides financial services to a micro, small 

10 or medium-sized enterprise.’’; 

11 (6) by striking paragraph (9); 

12 (7) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through 

13 (14) as paragraphs (9) through (13), respectively; 

14 (8) in paragraph (9) (as redesignated), by strik15 ing ‘‘of microenterprise development’’; 

16 (9) in paragraph (10) to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(10) PRACTITIONER INSTITUTION.—The term 

18 ‘practitioner institution’ means a not-for-profit enti19 ty, financial intermediary, information and commu20 nications technology firm with a mobile money plat21 form, a village and savings loan group, or any other 

22 entity that provides financial or business development 

23 services authorized under section 252 that benefits 

24 micro, small and medium-sized enterprise clients.’’; 

25 (10) in paragraph (12) (as redesignated)— 


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1 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘UNITED

2 STATES-SUPPORTED MICROFINANCE INSTITU3 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘UNITED STATES-SUP4 PORTED FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported 

6 microfinance institution’’ and inserting ‘‘United 

7 States-supported financial intermediary’’; 

8 (11) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (13) (as 

9 redesignated) to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(B) living below the International Poverty 

11 Line, as defined by the International Bank for 

12 Reconstruction and Development and the Inter13 national Development Association (collectively 

14 referred to as the ‘World Bank’).’’. 

15 (j) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 Title VI of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance 

17 Act of 1961 is amended as follows: 

18 (1) In the title heading, by striking ‘‘MICROEN19 TERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR 

21 MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM–SIZED ENTER22 PRISES’’. 

23 (2) In the heading for subtitle C, by striking 

24 ‘‘United States Microfinance Loan Facility’’ and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5480.RH H5480

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1 serting ‘‘United States Micro, Small and Medium2 Sized Microfinance Loan Facility’’. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORT AND BRIEFING BY UNITED STATES AGENCY 

4 FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

7 United States Agency for International Development shall 

8 provide a briefing and submit to the Committee on Foreign 

9 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

10 on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the imple11 mentation of this Act and the amendments made by this 

12 Act, including actions to improve the gender policies of the 

13 United States Agency for International Development pursu14 ant to section 3. 

15 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required under 

16 paragraph (1) shall be posted and made available on a text17 based, searchable, and publicly-available internet website. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

19 UNITED STATES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

22 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on For23 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com24 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on devel25 opment assistance for micro, small and medium-sized enterVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5480.RH H5480

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1 prises administered by the United States Agency for Inter2 national Development. 

3 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report required 

4 under subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the fol5 lowing: 

6 (1) What is known about the impact of such de7 velopment assistance on the economies of developing 

8 countries. 

9 (2) The extent to which such development assist10 ance is targeting women and the very poor, including 

11 what is known about how such development assistance 

12 benefits women. 

13 (3) The extent to which the United States Agency 

14 for International Development has developed a meth15 odology used to ensure compliance with the targeted 

16 assistance requirement in section 252(c) of the For17 eign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended by section 4 

18 of this Act, and the quality of such methodology. 

19 (4) The monitoring system required in section 

20 253(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as 

21 amended by section 4 of this Act, including the qual22 ity of such monitoring system. 


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Union Calendar No. 553 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5480 

[Report No. 115–718] 

A BILL 

To improve programs and activities relating to 

and for other purposes. States Agency for International Development, powerment that are carried out by the United women’s entrepreneurship and economic emJUNE 8, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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