[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5652 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5652

To amend the African Development Foundation Act to redesignate the name 
     of the Foundation, to increase funding for the mission of the 
       Foundation, and to increase the powers of the Foundation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2006

  Ms. Lee (for herself and Mr. Fortenberry) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the African Development Foundation Act to redesignate the name 
     of the Foundation, to increase funding for the mission of the 
       Foundation, and to increase the powers of the Foundation.

    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 ``African Development Foundation Act 
of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The African Development Foundation is uniquely 
        promoting sustainable community-based solutions to economic and 
        social development and is effectively supporting the 
        development of African-owned small enterprises as engines of 
        growth and sources of income and employment for the poor.
            (2) The African Development Foundation's programs advance 
        United States interests in Africa and are in high demand across 
        the continent, as evidenced by $20 million in host country 
        contributions.
            (3) The Office of Management and Budget has determined the 
        African Development Foundation to be a fully effective agency 
        after assessing its program performance.
            (4) The African Development Foundation is the only United 
        States Government agency working directly at the grassroots 
        level, supporting African-designed and African-driven solutions 
        to economic and social problems. The African Development 
        Foundation enables individuals and groups to get out of poverty 
        by putting their own ideas to work, instead of someone else's.
            (5) In 2005, African Development Foundation investments 
        across Africa created more than 110,000 jobs for poor Africans 
        and generated $70 million in gross revenues for enterprises. 
        Almost 65 percent of micro and small entrepreneurs assisted by 
        the African Development Foundation were women.
            (6) African Development Foundation-assisted groups had $35 
        million in export sales in 2005. For example, in Tanzania, the 
        African Development Foundation is helping several thousand 
        small sugar cane producers improve their income. Mtibwa Sugar 
        has increased its gross export revenues by 423 percent over the 
        past three years, from US$1.188 million during fiscal year 2002 
        to US$5.034 million in fiscal year 2005. In the Ruembe 
        Outgrowers Association, sugar cane yields per hectare are up 30 
        percent and cumulative export sales stand at US$4.7 million. 
        The number of participating cane farmers has increased by 50 
        percent since project inception and the income of the 1440 
        growers has almost doubled as a consequence of investment by 
        the African Development Foundation.
            (7) The African Development Foundation is supporting 
        African solutions to prevent HIV/AIDS and to reduce its impact 
        on families and communities. For example, in Swaziland, where 
        almost 40 percent of adults are infected with the AIDS virus, 
        the African Development Foundation is improving nutrition and 
        providing income-generating opportunities for widows and 
        orphans by helping them produce and market vegetables, in 
        Ghana, the African Development Foundation funded the training 
        of almost 1500 youth who conducted peer counseling on HIV/AIDS 
        to more than 200,000 young people, in Plateau State, Nigeria, 
        the African Development Foundation funded a pilot program to 
        adapt and extend a faith-based life skills training program in 
        the public secondary schools in which approximately 500 
        teachers were trained in the new curriculum and more than 
        25,000 students received year-long training, and in Tanzania, 
        the African Development Foundation has experimented with 
        supporting schemes that extend micro-credit to people living 
        with HIV/AIDS, enabling them to start informal businesses and 
        undertake income-generating activities.
            (8) The work of the African Development Foundation is a 
        powerful example of the goodwill of the American people, and it 
        is one of the most effective foreign assistance programs of the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION ACT.

    (a) Redesignation.--
            (1) In general.--Section 503(a) of the African Development 
        Foundation Act (Public Law 96-533; 22 U.S.C. 290h-1(a)) is 
        amended by striking ```African Development Foundation''' and 
        inserting ```United States African Development Foundation'''.
            (2) Reference.--Any reference to the African Development 
        Foundation in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, 
        directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the 
        date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a 
        reference to the United States African Development Foundation.
    (b) Funding for Grants and Loans.--
            (1) Limitation.--Subsection (a) of section 505 of such Act 
        (22 U.S.C. 290h-3) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``(including 
                small enterprises, producer associations, and 
                cooperatives)'' after ``entity''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``The total'' and inserting 
                        ``Except as provided in this paragraph, the 
                        total'';
                            (ii) by striking ``$250,000'' and inserting 
                        ``$400,000''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following 
                        new sentence: ``The funding limitation 
                        specified in this paragraph may be exceeded 
                        only in exceptional circumstances upon approval 
                        of the Board of the Directors and notification 
                        to Congress.''.
            (2) Use of funds.--Subsection (b) of such section is 
        amended, in the second sentence, by inserting before the period 
        at the end the following: ``, including supporting projects 
        which benefit the poor''.
            (3) Recipients.--Such section is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) To be eligible to receive grant, loan, or loan guarantee 
under this section, a small enterprise referred to in subsection (a) 
shall satisfy the following requirements:
            ``(1) Ownership is predominantly vested in one or more 
        individuals who are indigenous to Africa and who are 
        representative and knowledgeable of, and with a track record of 
        responding to, the needs and aspirations of the poor.
            ``(2) Management and daily business operations of the 
        entity are controlled by one or more individuals who are 
        indigenous to Africa.''.
    (c) Powers of the Foundation.--Section 506(a)(5) of such Act (22 
U.S.C. 290h-4(a)) is amended by inserting ``including providing 
technical assistance to eligible recipients described in section 
505(a)(1),'' after ``situated,''.
    (d) Basic Pay and Hiring Authorities.--Subsection (d) of section 
507 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 290h-5) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the second sentence, by striking 
        ``level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 
        title 5'' and inserting ``level II of the Executive Schedule 
        under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following 
        new sentence: ``Such experts and consultants may be employed 
        without regard to section 5373 of such title.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Of the individuals employed by the Foundation, not to 
        exceed four such individuals may be appointed, compensated, or 
        removed without regard to the civil service laws and 
        regulations. No individual appointed may receive a rate of pay 
        that exceeds the rate for senior level positions under section 
        5376 of title 5, United States Code. An employee of an agency 
        serving in a career, career conditional, or non-temporary 
        excepted service position who is appointed by the Foundation 
        shall be entitled, on termination of such appointment for any 
        reason other than for the misconduct or delinquence of such 
        employee, to be reinstated in such employee's former position 
        or a position of similar seniority and pay in the same 
        agency.''.
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