[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 192 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.192
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, two thousand and three
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.
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 ``microenterprise 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 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 microentrepreneurs''
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 government of the country in
which those individuals live; or
``(B) living on the equivalent of less than $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 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 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)(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 loans, savings, 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 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 clients. 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 Administrator shall,
from among the low-cost poverty measurement methods developed under
subparagraph (A), certify no fewer than two such methods as
approved methods for measuring the poverty levels of current or
prospective clients of microenterprise institutions for purposes of
assistance under this section.
``(2) Application.--The Administrator shall require that, with
reasonable exceptions, all organizations applying for
microenterprise assistance under this Act use one of the certified
methods, beginning no later than October 1, 2005, to determine and
report the poverty levels of current or prospective clients.''.
(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.--The term `very poor' means those
individuals--
``(A) living in the bottom 50 percent below the poverty
line established by the national government of the country in
which those individuals 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 report that documents the process of
developing and applying poverty assessment procedures with its
partners.
(b) Reports for Fiscal Year 2006 and Beyond.--Beginning with fiscal
year 2006, the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development 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 documenting--
(1) the percentage of its resources that were allocated 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 methods;
and
(2) the absolute number of the very poor reached.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.