I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 192
To amend the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 and the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for the poorest people 
in developing countries under microenterprise assistance programs under 
those Acts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. PAYNE, 
Mr. WOLF, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 
ROHRABACHER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. HOUGHTON, 
Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Ms. CARSON of 
Indiana, Mr. ISSA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. DICKS, 
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BEREUTER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. SHAW, Mr. 
HOEFFEL, Mr. KIRK, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
SHAYS, Mr. MICA, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. 
MEEKS of New York, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. 
SANDERS, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations 
A BILL 
To amend the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 
and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase 
assistance for the poorest people in developing countries 
under microenterprise assistance programs under those 
Acts, 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. AMENDMENTS TO THE MICROENTERPRISE FOR 
SELF-RELIANCE ACT OF 2000. 
(a) PURPOSES.—Section 103 of the Microenterprise 
for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–309) is 
amended—
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘microentre-
preneurs’’ and inserting ‘‘microenterprise house-
holds’’; 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(3) in paragraph (5)—
(A) by striking ‘‘microfinance policy’’ and 
inserting ‘‘microenterprise policy’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the poorest of the poor’’ 
and inserting ‘‘the very poor’’; and 
(C) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) to ensure that in the implementation of 
this title at least 50 percent of all microenterprise 
assistance under this title, and the amendments 
made under this title, shall be targeted to the very 
poor.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 104 of such Act is 
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for micro-
entrepreneurs’’ and inserting ‘‘to microentrepreneurs 
and their households’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) VERY POOR.—The term ‘very poor’ means 
individuals—
‘‘(A) living in the bottom 50 percent below 
the poverty line established by the national gov-
ernment of the country in which those individ-
uals live; or 
‘‘(B) living on the equivalent of less than 
$1 per day.’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE MICRO- AND SMALL ENTER-
PRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS PROGRAM 
UNDER THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 
1961. 
(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 108(a)(2) of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2151f(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘the development of 
the enterprises of the poor’’ and inserting ‘‘the access to 
financial services and the development of microenter-
prises’’. 
(b) PROGRAM.—Section 108(b) of such Act (22 
U.S.C. 2151f(b)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—To carry out the policy set forth in 
subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as-
sistance to increase the availability of financial services to 
microenterprise households lacking full access to credit, 
including through—
‘‘(1) loans and guarantees to microfinance insti-
tutions for the purpose of expanding the availability 
of savings and credit to poor and low-income house-
holds; 
‘‘(2) training programs for microfinance institu-
tions in order to enable them to better meet the fi-
nancial services needs of their clients; and 
‘‘(3) training programs for clients in order to 
enable them to make better use of credit, increase 
their financial literacy, and to better manage their 
enterprises to improve their quality of life.’’. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—Section 108(c) of such 
Act (22 U.S.C. 2151f(c)) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence of the matter preceding 
paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘credit institutions’’ and 
inserting ‘‘microfinance institutions’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘micro- and small enter-
prises’’ and inserting ‘‘microenterprise house-
holds’’; and
(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking 
‘‘credit’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘finan-
cial services’’. 
(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Section 108(d) of 
such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151f(d)) is amended by striking 
‘‘micro- and small enterprise programs’’ and inserting 
‘‘programs for microenterprise households’’. 
(e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 108(f)(1) of 
such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151f(f)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002’’ and inserting 
‘‘for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2004’’. 
(f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 108 of such 
Act (22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended in the heading to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 108. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE MICROENTERPRISE DEVEL-
OPMENT 
GRANT 
ASSISTANCE 
PROGRAM 
UNDER THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 
1961. 
(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 131(a) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152a(a)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Congress finds and de-
clares that—
‘‘(1) access to financial services and the devel-
opment of microenterprise are vital factors in the 
stable growth of developing countries and in the de-
velopment of free, open, and equitable international 
economic systems; 
‘‘(2) it is therefore in the best interest of the 
United States to facilitate access to financial serv-
ices and assist the development of microenterprise in 
developing countries; 
‘‘(3) access to financial services and the devel-
opment of microenterprises can be supported by pro-
grams providing credit, savings, training, technical 
assistance, business development services, and other 
financial and non-financial services; and 
‘‘(4) given the relatively high percentage of pop-
ulations living in rural areas of developing countries, 
and the combined high incidence of poverty in rural 
areas and growing income inequality between rural 
and 
urban 
markets, 
microenterprise 
programs 
should target both rural and urban poor.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 131(b) of such Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2152a(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (3)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘entre-
preneurs’’ and inserting ‘‘clients’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (4)(D)—
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘very small 
loans’’ and inserting ‘‘financial services to poor 
entrepreneurs’’; and 
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘micro-
finance’’ and inserting ‘‘microenterprise’’. 
(c) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 131(c) of such 
Act (22 U.S.C. 2152a(c)) is amended by striking para-
graph (4) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) adopts the widespread use of proven and 
effective poverty assessment tools to successfully 
identify the very poor and ensure that they receive 
needed microenterprise loans, savings, and assist-
ance.’’. 
(d) DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF POVERTY 
MEASUREMENT METHODS.—Section 131 of such Act (22 
U.S.C. 2152a) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 
subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION OF POV-
ERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS; APPLICATION OF METH-
ODS.—
‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION.—(A) 
The Administrator of the United States Agency for
ginning no later than October 1, 2005, to determine 
and report the poverty levels of current or prospec-
tive clients.’’. 
(e) LEVEL OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 131(e) of such 
Act, as redesignated by subsection (d), is amended by in-
serting ‘‘and $175,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and 
$200,000,000 for fiscal year 2004’’ after ‘‘fiscal years 
2001 and 2002’’. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 131(f) of such Act, as re-
designated by subsection (d), is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(5) VERY POOR.—The term ‘very poor’ means 
those individuals—
‘‘(A) living in the bottom 50 percent below 
the poverty line established by the national gov-
ernment of the country in which those individ-
uals live; or 
‘‘(B) living on less than the equivalent of 
$1 per day.’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 
2005, the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development shall submit to Congress a re-
port that documents the process of developing and apply-
ing poverty assessment procedures with its partners.
(b) REPORTS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006 AND BE-
YOND.—Beginning with fiscal year 2006, the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment shall annually submit to Congress on a timely 
basis a report that addresses the United States Agency 
for International Development’s compliance with the 
Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 by docu-
menting—
(1) the percentage of its resources that were al-
located to the very poor (as defined in paragraph (5) 
of section 131(f) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152a(f)(5))) based on the data 
collected from its partners using the certified meth-
ods; and 
(2) the absolute number of the very poor 
reached.
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