[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 129 (Wednesday, November 15, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING DR. MUHAMMAD YUNUS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER 2006

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                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 15, 2006

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. 
Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
  Dr. Yunus is a visionary in the effort to improve the economies of 
the developing world. He first began his revolutionary work in 1974 
during a widespread famine in his native Bangladesh. Then an economics 
professor at Chittagong University, Dr. Yunus began experimenting with 
different ways to help the poor. He struck upon the concept of 
microcredit, the provision of very small loans to poor individuals to 
start or improve basic businesses.
  Although desperately poor, those to whom Dr. Yunus lent money proved 
to be dependable clients and could be relied upon to repay their debts. 
When local banks declined to make small loans of this sort, Dr. Yunus 
founded the Grameen Bank in order to do it himself. To date, the 
Grameen Bank has disbursed more than $5.3 billion to nearly seven 
million borrowers, most of whom have no collateral.
  Dr. Yunus' objective is to rid the world of poverty, and his 
microcredit concept has indeed showed promising results. Roughly half 
of Dr. Yunus' clients have achieved basic economic objectives: a home 
with a metal roof; clean drinking water; a sanitary latrine; warm 
clothes for winter and mosquito netting for summer; about seventy-five 
dollars in a savings account; and schooling for the children. Upon this 
foundation, one can envision a world in which the scourge of poverty is 
banished.
  Dr. Yunus' achievements have long been praised; it is fitting that he 
has finally received the high honor of the Nobel Prize. I ask that my 
colleagues join me in congratulating Dr. Yunus on this occasion.

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