Union Calendar No. 44
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1143
[Report No. 106–82]
A BILL
To establish a program to provide assistance for
programs of credit and other financial services
for microenterprises in developing countries, and
for other purposes.
APRIL 12, 1999
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 44
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1143
[Report No. 106–82]
To establish a program to provide assistance for programs of credit and
other financial services for microenterprises in developing countries, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 17, 1999
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. HALL of
Ohio, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. GOODLING, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. PAYNE,
Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr.
MEEHAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ANDREWS, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs.
MORELLA, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. TANCREDO,
Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. LAFALCE, and Mr.
GREENWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
APRIL 12, 1999
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed
A BILL
To establish a program to provide assistance for programs
of credit and other financial services for microenterprises
in developing countries, 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 for
Self-Reliance Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.
The Congress makes the following findings and dec-
larations:
(1) According to the World Bank, more than
1,200,000,000 people in the developing world, or
one-fifth of the world’s population, subsist on less
than $1 a day.
(2) Over 32,000 of their children die each day
from largely preventable malnutrition and disease.
(3)(A) Women in poverty generally have larger
work loads and less access to educational and eco-
nomic opportunities than their male counterparts.
(B) Directly aiding the poorest of the poor, es-
pecially women, in the developing world has a posi-
tive effect not only on family incomes, but also on
child nutrition, health and education, as women in
particular reinvest income in their families.
(4)(A) The poor in the developing world, par-
ticularly women, generally lack stable employment
and social safety nets.
(B) Many turn to self-employment to generate
a substantial portion of their livelihood. In Africa,
over 80 percent of employment is generated in the
informal sector of the self-employed poor.
(C) These poor entrepreneurs are often trapped
in poverty because they cannot obtain credit at rea-
sonable rates to build their asset base or expand
their otherwise viable self-employment activities.
(D) Many of the poor are forced to pay interest
rates as high as 10 percent per day to money lend-
ers.
(5)(A) The poor are able to expand their in-
comes and their businesses dramatically when they
can access loans at reasonable interest rates.
(B) Through the development of self-sustaining
microfinance programs, poor people themselves can
lead the fight against hunger and poverty.
(6)(A) On February 2–4, 1997, a global Micro-
credit Summit was held in Washington, District of
Columbia, to launch a plan to expand access to cred-
it for self-employment and other financial and busi-
ness services to 100,000,000 of the world’s poorest
families, especially the women of those families, by
2005. While this scale of outreach may not be
achievable in this short timeframe, the realization of
this goal could dramatically alter the face of global
poverty.
(B) With an average family size of five, achiev-
ing this goal will mean that the benefits of micro-
finance will thereby reach nearly half of the world’s
more than 1,000,000,000 absolute poor people.
(7)(A) Nongovernmental organizations, such as
those that comprise the Microenterprise Coalition
(such as the Grameen Bank (Bangladesh,) K–REP
(Kenya), and networks such as Accion International,
the Foundation for International Community Assist-
ance (FINCA), and the credit union movement) are
successful in lending directly to the very poor.
(B) Microfinance institutions such as BRAC
(Bangladesh), BancoSol (Bolivia), SEWA Bank
(India), and ACEP (Senegal) are regulated financial
institutions that can raise funds directly from the
local and international capital markets.
(8)(A) Microenterprise institutions not only re-
duce poverty, but also reduce the dependency on for-
eign assistance.
(B) Interest income on the credit portfolio is
used to pay recurring institutional costs, assuring
the long-term sustainability of development assist-
ance.