IIA

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3846

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 31, 1996

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

AN ACT

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize

the provision of assistance for microenterprises, 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 Act’’.

3 SEC. 2. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

4 CREDITS.

5 Section 108 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

6 (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended to read as follows:

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

8 CREDITS.

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

10 and declares that—

11 ‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter12 prise, including cooperatives, is a vital factor in the

13 stable growth of developing countries and in the de14 velopment and stability of a free, open, and equi15 table international economic system;

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

17 United States to assist the development of the pri18 vate sector in developing countries and to engage the

19 United States private sector in that process;

20 ‘‘(3) the support of private enterprise can be

21 served by programs providing credit, training, and

22 technical assistance for the benefit of micro- and

23 small enterprises; and

24 ‘‘(4) programs that provide credit, training, and

25 technical assistance to private institutions can serve

26 as a valuable complement to grant assistance pro-
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1 vided for the purpose of benefiting micro- and small

2 private enterprise.

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

4 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as5 sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and

6 small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including

7 through—

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

9 for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred10 it to micro- and small enterprises;

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

12 enable them to better meet the credit needs of

13 micro- and small entrepreneurs; and

14 ‘‘(3) training programs for micro- and small en15 trepreneurs in order to enable them to make better

16 use of credit and to better manage their enter17 prises.’’.

18 SEC. 3. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST19 ANCE.

20 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

21 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding

22 at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 129. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT AS2 SISTANCE.

3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—(1) In carrying out this part,

4 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter5 national Development is authorized to provide grant as6 sistance for programs of credit and other assistance for

7 microenterprises in developing countries.

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

9 be provided through organizations that have a capacity to

10 develop and implement microenterprise programs, includ11 ing particularly—

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

13 voluntary organizations;

14 ‘‘(B) United States and indigenous credit

15 unions and cooperative organizations; or

16 ‘‘(C) other indigenous governmental and non17 governmental organizations.

18 ‘‘(3) Approximately one-half of the credit assistance

19 authorized under paragraph (1) shall be used for poverty

20 lending programs, including the poverty lending portion

21 of mixed programs. Such programs—

22 ‘‘(A) shall meet the needs of the very poor

23 members of society, particularly poor women; and

24 ‘‘(B) should provide loans of $300 or less in

25 1995 United States dollars to such poor members of

26 society.
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1 ‘‘(4) The Administrator should continue support for

2 mechanisms 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); and

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

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

12 ‘‘(b) MONITORING SYSTEM.—In order to maximize

13 the sustainable development impact of the assistance au14 thorized under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator should

15 establish a monitoring system that—

16 ‘‘(1) establishes performance goals for such as17 sistance and expresses such goals in an objective and

18 quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;

19 ‘‘(2) establishes performance indicators to be

20 used in measuring or assessing the achievement of

21 the goals and objectives of such assistance; and

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

23 adjustments to such assistance to enhance the sus24 tainable development impact of such assistance, par-
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1 ticularly the impact of such assistance on the very

2 poor, particularly poor women.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 1996.

Attest:

ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.