IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 192
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 15, 2003
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
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.
HR 192 RFS 
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.’’.
HR 192 RFS 
(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’’.
HR 192 RFS 
(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
HR 192 RFS 
(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:
HR 192 RFS 
‘‘(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—
HR 192 RFS 
(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:
HR 192 RFS 
‘‘(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 
International Development, in consultation with 
microenterprise institutions and other appropriate 
organizations, shall develop no fewer than two low-
cost methods for partner institutions to use to assess 
the poverty levels of their current or prospective cli-
ents. The United States Agency for International 
Development shall develop poverty indicators that 
correlate with the circumstances of the very poor. 
‘‘(B) The Administrator shall field-test the 
methods developed under subparagraph (A). As part 
of the testing, institutions and programs may use 
the methods on a voluntary basis to demonstrate 
their ability to reach the very poor. 
‘‘(C) Not later than October 1, 2004, the Ad-
ministrator shall, from among the low-cost poverty 
measurement methods developed under subpara-
graph (A), certify no fewer than two such methods 
as approved methods for measuring the poverty lev-
els of current or prospective clients of microenter-