Title: Bicycles for Rural African Transport Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Bicycles for Rural African Transport Act
The bill requires the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a program to provide bicycles in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.  The program must focus on providing bicycles to rural communities to promote access to education, health care, and livelihood opportunities.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4962

     To establish within the Office of Gender Equality and Women's 
Empowerment of the United States Agency for International Development a 
rural mobility program to promote mobility in rural communities through 
 access to affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles, to provide support to 
  sustainably increase access to rural areas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 27, 2022

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish within the Office of Gender Equality and Women's 
Empowerment of the United States Agency for International Development a 
rural mobility program to promote mobility in rural communities through 
 access to affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles, to provide support to 
  sustainably increase access to rural areas, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bicycles for Rural African Transport 
Act''.

SEC. 2. RURAL MOBILITY PROGRAM IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the United States 
        Agency for International Development (referred to in this 
        section as ``USAID'') shall establish, within the Office of 
        Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, a rural mobility 
        program (referred to in this section as the ``Program'') to 
        carry out the purposes described in paragraph (2), including 
        through grants made to eligible nongovernmental partner 
        organizations. In making such grants, the Administrator shall 
        give priority to organizations with demonstrated success 
        conducting rural mobility programs in the region for such 
        purposes.
            (2) Purpose.--The Program shall focus on country-driven 
        projects within sub-Saharan Africa that--
                    (A) promote rural communities' access to critical 
                services and opportunities, including education, health 
                care, and livelihood opportunities, through access to 
                affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles; and
                    (B) provide support to sustainably increase access 
                to critical services, such as education, health care, 
                and livelihood opportunities in rural areas, including 
                through support for rural-based mechanics, access to 
                spare parts, reduction of social and gender-based 
                stigma, and community project management capacity.
            (3) Partnerships.--To the greatest extent practicable, the 
        Program shall partner with existing entities outside the United 
        States that have successful models for providing access to 
        affordable bicycles to achieve development objectives.
            (4) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this section--
                    (A) $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2023 
                and 2024;
                    (B) $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 
                and 2026; and
                    (C) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and for each 
                fiscal year thereafter.
    (b) Report.--
            (1) Prior projects.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall 
        submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
        Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 
        and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives that, with respect to each of the fiscal years 
        2019 through 2022--
                    (A) describes the projects carried out by USAID 
                that relate to any of the purposes described in 
                subsection (a)(2);
                    (B) identifies the countries in which USAID 
                embedded rural bicycle mobility into strategies, 
                programs, and projects of USAID and describes the 
                mechanisms by which rural bicycle mobility was so 
                embedded;
                    (C) specifies the number of bicycles distributed 
                through projects carried out by USAID; and
                    (D) assesses the outcomes for, and impacts on, 
                participants in such projects and the efforts of USAID 
                to disseminate lessons learned from such projects.
            (2) Current projects.--Not later than December 30, 2024, 
        and each December 30 thereafter, the Administrator of USAID 
        shall submit a report to the congressional committees referred 
        to in paragraph (1) that--
                    (A) describes the projects carried out by USAID 
                during the most recently concluded fiscal year; and
                    (B) includes information relating to the matters 
                described in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of paragraph 
                (1).
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