I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3846

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the provision

of assistance for microenterprises, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 18, 1996

Mr. GILMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microenterprise Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

6 CREDITS.

7 Section 108 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

8 (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 108. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

2 CREDITS.

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

4 and declares that—

5 ‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter6 prise, including cooperatives, is a vital factor in the

7 stable growth of developing countries and in the de8 velopment and stability of a free, open, and equi9 table international economic system;

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

11 United States to assist the development of the pri12 vate sector in developing countries and to engage the

13 United States private sector in that process;

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

15 served by programs providing credit, training, and

16 technical assistance for the benefit of micro- and

17 small enterprises; and

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

19 technical assistance to private institutions can serve

20 as a valuable complement to grant assistance pro21 vided for the purpose of benefiting micro- and small

22 private enterprise.

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

24 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as25 sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and
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1 small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including

2 through—

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

4 for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred5 it to micro- and small enterprises;

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

7 enable them to better meet the credit needs of

8 micro- and small entrepreneurs; and

9 ‘‘(3) training programs for micro- and small en10 trepreneurs in order to enable them to make better

11 use of credit and to better manage their enter12 prises.’’.

13 SEC. 3. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST14 ANCE.

15 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

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

17 at the end the following new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 129. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT AS19 SISTANCE.

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

21 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter22 national Development is authorized to provide grant as23 sistance for programs of credit and other assistance for

24 microenterprises in developing countries.
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1 ‘‘(2) Assistance authorized under paragraph (1) shall

2 be provided through organizations that have a capacity to

3 develop and implement microenterprise programs, includ4 ing particularly—

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

6 voluntary organizations;

7 ‘‘(B) United States and indigenous credit

8 unions and cooperative organizations; or

9 ‘‘(C) other indigenous governmental and non10 governmental organizations.

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

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

13 lending programs, including the poverty lending portion

14 of mixed programs. Such programs—

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

16 members of society, particularly poor women; and

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

18 1995 United States dollars to such poor members of

19 society.

20 ‘‘(4) The Administrator should continue support for

21 mechanisms that—

22 ‘‘(A) provide technical support for field mis23 sions;
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1 ‘‘(B) strengthen the institutional development

2 of the intermediary organizations described in para3 graph (2); and

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

5 of assistance authorized under paragraph (1) be6 tween such field missions and intermediary organiza7 tions.

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

9 the sustainable development impact of the assistance au10 thorized under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator should

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; and

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.’’.

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