I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2524 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve access to 
microenterprise by the very poor, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2011 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. RUSH) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve 
access to microenterprise by the very poor, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microenterprise Em-
powerment and Job Creation Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 
1961 TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO MICROENTER-
PRISE BY THE VERY POOR. 
(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 251 of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) The very poor can utilize microfinance 
mechanisms and benefit from microenterprise oppor-
tunities, but they require innovative approaches that 
respond to their particular circumstances and 
needs.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED 
ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 252(a) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2211a(a)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) assistance for the purpose of expanding 
the availability of credit, savings, and other financial 
services to microfinance and microenterprise clients, 
particularly those who are unable to access such 
services through the private sector, and to increase 
the capacity of such clients to access such services 
through education, training, and mentoring;’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
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(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 
paragraph (5); and 
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) assistance for value chain interventions 
that— 
‘‘(A) benefit primarily the very poor popu-
lations; 
‘‘(B) is integral to the success of a micro-
finance or microenterprise project; and 
‘‘(C) includes measures to ensure that the 
value chain that is created or enhanced will be 
self-sustainable upon completion of the inter-
vention; and’’. 
(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 252(b)(2) of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2211a(b)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 
‘‘$25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$24,100,000’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (C), the term ‘adminis-
trative costs’ does not include the salary and re-
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lated costs of personnel who train, mentor, 
monitor, and verify the accountability of groups 
participating in projects based on an informal 
savings-led group model.’’. 
(3) TARGETED
ASSISTANCE.—Section 252 of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2211a) is amended by striking subsection (c) and in-
serting the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) TARGETED ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out sus-
tainable poverty-focused programs under subsection (a)— 
‘‘(1)(A) 50 percent of all microenterprise re-
sources shall be targeted to clients who are very 
poor; and 
‘‘(B) clients who receive resources specified in 
subparagraph (A) shall include individuals who— 
‘‘(i) do not have permanent, secure shelter; 
‘‘(ii) are living in camps administered by 
the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees for refugees and internally displaced 
persons; 
‘‘(iii) are victims or potential victims of se-
vere forms of trafficking in persons or are 
women who are victims of or susceptible to 
other forms of exploitation and violence; or 
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‘‘(iv) are widows, orphans, or vulnerable 
children; and 
‘‘(2) assistance shall be distributed taking into 
account country and regional assistance targets es-
tablished by the Director that are based on the pov-
erty ratios of countries eligible for assistance from 
the International Development Association.’’. 
(c) REPORT.—Section 258(b) of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214(b)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following paragraphs: 
‘‘(12) A description of the efforts made to no-
tify new potential program implementers that pro-
vide microenterprise opportunities to the very poor, 
including faith-based and community-based organi-
zations, of assistance available pursuant to section 
252(a). 
‘‘(13) A list of organizations that provided as-
sistance to individuals listed in section 252(c)(1)(B), 
the amount of assistance provided to each organiza-
tion, and a description of the microenterprise 
projects funded through each organization. 
‘‘(14) The country and regional poverty targets 
established pursuant to section 252(c)(2), and a 
comparison as to how assistance pursuant to sub-
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section (a) is being distributed relative to such tar-
gets. 
‘‘(15) In order to ensure compliance with sec-
tion 253(b)(4) and to increase access by the very 
poor to microenterprise opportunities, an identifica-
tion of— 
‘‘(A) the poverty assessment tools cur-
rently available for identifying the very poor 
that have been evaluated by the Administrator 
of the Agency, acting through the Director of 
the office, during the applicable fiscal year; and 
‘‘(B) those tools identified under subpara-
graph (A) that have been determined to meet 
the Agency’s requirements for accountability 
and transparency and have been approved for 
such purpose.’’. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 259 of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214a) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the Com-
mittee on International Relations’’ and inserting 
‘‘the Committee on Foreign Affairs’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (14) as para-
graph (15); 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (13) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
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‘‘(14) VALUE CHAIN.—The term ‘value chain’ 
means all or part of a market system to produce and 
deliver goods from the extraction of raw materials or 
production of other inputs to final consumer pur-
chase, including the flow of financing among the 
value chain actors for the purpose of delivering prod-
ucts to market.’’; and 
(4) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (15) (as 
redesignated), by striking ‘‘$1’’ and inserting 
‘‘$1.25’’. 
SEC. 3. ENHANCED PROCUREMENT POLICIES FOR MICRO-
FINANCE PROGRAMS. 
For the purpose of improving the procurement proc-
ess for microfinance programs, when administering assist-
ance under section 252 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a), the Administrator shall— 
(1) develop a formal past performance system 
and database for acquisition and assistance instru-
ments to be used in the evaluation of all future com-
petitions for such instruments; and 
(2) develop rules regarding potential organiza-
tional conflicts of interest related to the design, eval-
uation, and audit of programs in relation to the im-
plementation of such programs that apply both to 
acquisition and assistance instruments. 
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SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) GRANT ASSISTANCE.—Section 252 of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a), as amended 
by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following subsection: 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts au-
thorized to be available to carry out this part, the United 
States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 
Malaria Act of 2003, the FREEDOM Support Act, the 
International Security Assistance Act of 1978, the Agri-
cultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, 
and the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) 
Act of 1989, including local currencies derived from such 
funds, 
there 
are 
authorized 
to 
be 
appropriated 
$264,930,000 for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 
2016 to carry out this subtitle.’’. 
(b) CREDIT ASSISTANCE.—Section 256(f)(1) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2212(f)(1)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘such sums as may be nec-
essary’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,070,000’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘2005 through 2009’’ and in-
serting ‘‘2012 through 2016’’. 
Æ 
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