[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4073 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 268
107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4073

                          [Report No. 107-453]

  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

                             March 20, 2002

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

                              May 10, 2002

Additional sponsors: Mr. Platts, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Roukema, and Ms. Hart

                              May 10, 2002

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 
                               20, 2002]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives 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 ``microentrepreneurs'' 
        and inserting ``mircoenterprise households'';
            (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 encourage the United States Agency for 
        International Development to develop, assess, and implement 
        effective outreach methods and tools to ensure that all 
        microenterprise assistance authorized under this title, and the 
        amendments made by this title, is used to assist the greatest 
        absolute number of economically viable clients among the very 
        poor, and that at least 50 percent of all microenterprise 
        assistance authorized under this title, and the amendments made 
        under this title, is used in support of programs or lines of 
        service that target the very poor.''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 104 of such Act is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``for 
        microentrepreneurs'' and inserting ``to microentrepreneurs and 
        their households''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Very poor; poorest people in developing countries.--
        The terms `very poor' and `poorest people in developing 
        countries' means those persons living either in the bottom 50 
        percent below the poverty line as established by the national 
        government of the country or on less than the equivalent of $1 
        per day.''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE 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 microenterprises''.
    (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 assistance to increase the 
availability of financial services to microenterprise households 
lacking full access to credit, including through--
            ``(1) loans and guarantees to microfinance institutions for 
        the purpose of expanding the availability of savings and credit 
        to poor and low-income households;
            ``(2) training programs for microfinance institutions in 
        order to enable them to better meet the financial 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.''.
    (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 enterprises'' 
                and inserting ``microenterprise households''; and
            (2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ``credit'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``financial 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 DEVELOPMENT 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 declares that--
            ``(1) access to financial services and the development of 
        microenterprise are vital factors in the stable growth of 
        developing countries and in the development 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 services and assist 
        the development of microenterprise in developing countries;
            ``(3) access to financial services and the development of 
        microenterprises can be supported by programs providing credit, 
        savings, training, technical assistance, business development 
        services, and other financial and non-financial services; and
            ``(4) given the relatively high percentage of populations 
        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) in the first sentence of the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``targeted to very poor 
                entrepreneurs'' and all that follows and inserting 
                ``used in support of programs or lines of service under 
                which 50 percent or more of the incoming or prospective 
                clients are initially very poor.''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)(i) , by striking 
                ``entrepreneurs'' 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 ``microfinance'' 
                and inserting ``microenterprise''.
    (c) Monitoring System.--Section 131(c) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
2152a(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (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 credits, 
        loans, and assistance.''
    (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 following:
    ``(d) Development and Certification of Poverty Measurement Methods; 
Application of Methods.--
            ``(1) Development and certification.--
                    (A) The Administrator of the United States Agency 
                for International Development, in consultation with 
                appropriate microfinance institutions, microenterprise 
                institutions, and other appropriate entities shall 
                develop no fewer than two low-cost methods for 
                measuring the poverty levels of the current or 
                prospective clients of microenterprise organizations of 
                purposes of assistance under this section. In 
                developing such methods, the Administrator shall give 
                consideration to methods already in use by practitioner 
                institutions.
                    ``(B) The Administrator shall field-test the 
                methods developed under this paragraph, and as part of 
                the testing, institutions and programs may use these 
                methods on a voluntary basis to demonstrate their 
                ability to reach the very poor.
                    ``(C) Not later than October 1, 2004, the 
                Administrator shall, from among the low-cost poverty 
                measurement methods developed under this paragraph, 
                certify no fewer than two of such methods as approved 
                methods for measuring the poverty levels of the current 
                or prospective clients of microenterprise organizations 
                for purposes of assistance under this section.
            ``(2) Application.--Beginning on and after October 1, 2004, 
        assistance furnished under this section to a program or to a 
        line of service within an institution shall qualify, in whole 
        or in part, as targeted assistance to the very poor if one or 
        more of the measurement methods approved under paragraph (1), 
        or one or more of the measurement methods approved in 
        accordance with paragraph (1) after October 1, 2004, verifies 
        that at least 50 percent of the incoming or prospective clients 
        of the program or line of service are initially among the very 
        poor.''.
    (e) Level of Assistance.--Section 131(e) of such Act, as 
redesignated by subsection (d), is amended by inserting ``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 redesignated by 
subsection (d), is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Very poor; poorest people in developing countries.--
        The terms `very poor' and `poorest people in developing 
        countries' mean those persons living either in the bottom 50 
        percent below the poverty line as established by the national 
        government of the country or on less than the equivalent of $1 
        per day.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than July 1, 2004, the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development shall submit to Congress a report 
that contains--
            (1) a description of the interim poverty measurement 
        methods developed and implemented pursuant to section 131(d)(1) 
        of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 
        3(d);
            (2) an analysis of the results of the application of such 
        interim poverty measurement methods to sustainable poverty-
        focused programs under such section; and
            (3) a description of the proposed final poverty measurement 
        methods to be implemented beginning on October 1, 2004, in 
        accordance with section 131(d)(2) of such Act, as added by 
        section 3(d).




                                                 Union Calendar No. 268

107th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 4073

                          [Report No. 107-453]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              May 10, 2002

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed