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Union Calendar No. 380

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3846

[Report No. 104–715]

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

JULY 29, 1996

Additional sponsors: Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mrs.

MEEK of Florida, Mr. ORTON, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. COYNE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. FRAZER, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. HASTINGS of

Florida, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. HALL of

Ohio, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr.

MEEHAN, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and

Mr. MILLER of California

JULY 29, 1996

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

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize

the provision of assistance for microenterprises, 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 ‘‘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:

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

10 CREDITS.

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

12 and declares that—

13 ‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter14 prise, including cooperatives, is a vital factor in the

15 stable growth of developing countries and in the de16 velopment and stability of a free, open, and equi17 table international economic system;

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

19 United States to assist the development of the pri20 vate sector in developing countries and to engage the

21 United States private sector in that process;

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

23 served by programs providing credit, training, and

24 technical assistance for the benefit of micro- and

25 small enterprises; and
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1 ‘‘(4) programs that provide credit, training, and

2 technical assistance to private institutions can serve

3 as a valuable complement to grant assistance pro4 vided for the purpose of benefiting micro- and small

5 private enterprise.

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

7 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as8 sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and

9 small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including

10 through—

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

12 for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred13 it to micro- and small enterprises;

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

15 enable them to better meet the credit needs of

16 micro- and small entrepreneurs; and

17 ‘‘(3) training programs for micro- and small en18 trepreneurs in order to enable them to make better

19 use of credit and to better manage their enter20 prises.’’.

21 SEC. 3. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST22 ANCE.

23 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

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

25 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.’’.

Union Calendar No. 380

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3846

[Report No. 104–715]

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to

enterprises, and for other purposes.authorize the provision of assistance for microJULY 29, 1996

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed