[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 45 (Thursday, March 15, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3209-S3211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kerry, 
        and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 903. A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Muhammad 
Yunus, in recognition of his contributions to the fight against global 
poverty; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Dr. Muhammad Yunus 
for his contributions to the fight against global poverty.
  Today, joined by my colleague Senator Bennett of Utah as well as 
Senators Clinton, Kerry and Harkin, I introduced the Muhammad Yunus 
Congressional Gold Medal Act.
  This bipartisan bill would award Dr. Yunus a Congressional Gold Medal 
in recognition of his efforts to fight poverty and promote economic and 
social opportunity.
  Along with the Grameen Bank, which he founded, Dr. Yunus was awarded 
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for developing the concept of 
microcredit. Through the Grameen system, Dr. Yunus created an 
economically sound model of extending very small loans, at competitive 
interest rates, to the very poor. Through this system, he has been 
transforming lives, one loan at a time.
  He began in 1976 with a loan of just $27, out of his own pocket, to 
42 village craftspeople in Bangladesh. Over the past 30 years, his 
model has been emulated around the world.
  I met Dr. Yunus on my first trip to Bangladesh, and there I saw 
firsthand the economic miracle that microcredit can help create.
  Nearly half the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. We 
can not hope to achieve lasting global peace and stability until we 
find a means by which the world's poorest can begin to lift themselves 
out of poverty.
  The microcredit movement that Dr. Yunus pioneered has made enormous 
strides towards that goal. Over 125 million households have already 
been transformed by microcredit loans, and more are joining them every 
day.
  Dr. Yunus' work has had a particularly strong impact on improving the 
economic prospects of women. Women disproportionately shoulder the 
burden of poverty. They also make up over 95 percent of microcredit 
borrowers.
  I have long believed that if you want to predict the economic 
prospects of a country, ask how it treats its women. If a country sends 
its daughters to school, if its wives and mothers have economic and 
political rights and opportunities, then it is likely to prosper. But 
if it treats its women as second-class citizens, its chances for 
development diminish dramatically. Microcredit opens doors for women 
and in so doing it creates new opportunities for their sons and 
daughters alike.
  Muhammad Yunus's work has also affected the lives of millions of 
Americans. Although Dr. Yunus launched his movement in 1976 in 
Bangladesh--a long time ago and a long way away--it

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has come home to us here in America and is still relevant today.
  There are now an estimated 21 million microentrepreneurs in the U.S., 
accounting for approximately 16 percent of private employment in the 
country. Over $318 million worth of microloans have been made to 
American entrepreneurs in the past 15 years.
  Culminating with his Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Yunus has been recognized 
around the world as a leading figure in the effort to fight poverty and 
promote economic and social opportunity.
  It is time that we properly recognize him here in Congress with our 
most distinguished honor.
  Dr. Yunus would join a long and illustrious line of Congressional 
Gold Medal recipients that stretches back to 1776, when the award was 
created. Although most of the recipients have been American, many have 
not: Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pope John Paul II, and His Holiness, 
the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, are just a few. We hope that Dr. Yunus will 
join them.
  I want to thank Senator Bennett and my other colleagues for joining 
me today in honoring Dr. Yunus. Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a great man who 
deserves our admiration and our thanks.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 903

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) Dr. Muhammad Yunus is recognized in the United States 
     and throughout the world as a leading figure in the fight 
     against poverty and the effort to promote economic and social 
     change;
       (2) Muhammad Yunus is the recognized developer of the 
     concept of microcredit, and Grameen Bank, which he founded, 
     has created a model of lending that has been emulated across 
     the globe;
       (3) Muhammad Yunus launched this global movement to create 
     economic and social development from below, beginning in 
     1976, with a loan of $27 from his own pocket to 42 crafts 
     persons in a small village in Bangladesh;
       (4) Muhammad Yunus has demonstrated the life-changing 
     potential of extending very small loans (at competitive 
     interest rates) to the very poor and the economic feasibility 
     of microcredit and other microfinance and microenterprise 
     practices and services;
       (5) Dr. Yunus's work has had a particularly strong impact 
     on improving the economic prospects of women, and on their 
     families, as over 95 percent of microcredit borrowers are 
     women;
       (6) Dr. Yunus has pioneered a movement with the potential 
     to assist a significant number of the more than 1,000,000,000 
     people, mostly women and children, who live on less than $1 a 
     day, and the nearly 3,000,000,000 people who live on less 
     than $2 a day, and which has already reached 125,000,000 
     households, by one estimate;
       (7) there are now an estimated 21,000,000 
     microentrepreneurs in the United States (accounting for 
     approximately 16 percent of private (nonfarm) employment in 
     the United States), and the Small Business Administration has 
     made over $318,000,000 in microloans to entrepreneurs since 
     1992;
       (8) Dr. Yunus, along with the Grameen Bank, was awarded the 
     Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts to promote economic 
     and social opportunity and out of recognition that lasting 
     peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find 
     the means, such as microcredit, to break out of poverty; and
       (9) the microcredit ideas developed and put into practice 
     by Muhammad Yunus, along with other bold initiatives, can 
     make a historical breakthrough in the fight against poverty.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 
     shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 
     behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, to 
     Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in recognition of his many enduring 
     contributions to the fight against global poverty.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation 
     referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a 
     gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, 
     to be determined by the Secretary.

     SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
     the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, under such 
     regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 
     sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
     materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 
     the cost of the gold medal.

     SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

       (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this 
     Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 
     31, United States Code.
       (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 
     5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 
     this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

       (a) Authority to Use Fund Amounts.--There are authorized to 
     be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 
     Fund, such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs 
     of the medals struck pursuant to this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be 
     deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Dr. Muhammad 
Yunus. For those who don't already know, Dr. Yunus is a modest man of 
great ideas, now revered around the world, as the father of microcredit 
and the founder of the Grameen Bank. His concept of microcredit has 
helped thousands of people work their way out of poverty. For his work 
to beat global poverty, I am very proud to join my colleagues, Senators 
Durbin and Bennett, in introducing a bill to honor Dr. Yunus with a 
Congressional Gold Medal.
  When I look at the success of Dr. Yunus's idea and the 
microenterprise programs it has inspired over the past 30 years, one 
thing that amazes me the most is that it all began with a loan of 27 
U.S. dollars. The beauty of microcredit is that such a small amount of 
money can have such tremendous and lasting effects to foster 
entrepreneurship among those who would not qualify for typical bank 
loans. By offering loans at competitive interest rates, or no interest, 
Dr. Yunus's Grameen Bank has been able to give individuals suffering 
from poverty the power to determine their own futures.
  Last year, Dr. Yunus and his Grameen Bank were honored with a Nobel 
Peace Prize for his economic imagination. Dr. Yunus's innovation and 
entrepreneurship are certainly commendable and worthy of such an honor, 
as well as the distinction of a Congressional Gold Medal. In accepting 
his Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Yunus challenged the world to think of an 
entrepreneur as not only being motivated by profit, but also by ``doing 
good to people and the world.''
  The effectiveness of microcredit programs is evident by the success 
stories they have inspired all around the world. As chairman of the 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, I have seen first hand 
the power of microcredit in this country, through the SBA's--Small 
Business Administration's--microloan programs. In my home State of 
Massachusetts, Thondup and Dolma Tsering, two Tibetan refugees in the 
United States, were able to start their own restaurant in 2005, with 
assistance from the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center and 
financing from the Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund. Through 
financing and support, otherwise not available to them from the banking 
community, they are now the successful owners of Lhasa Cafe in 
Northampton. As small business owners, the Tserings are socially 
responsible and support local farmers and their community.
  From Dr. Yunus's first microloans to 42 entrepreneurs in Bangladesh 
in 1976, the concept of microcredit has come a long way. Here in the 
United States, where SBA has had a similar program since 1992, more 
than $328 million in microloans have been made to deserving 
entrepreneurs.
  I have long been a supporter of funding microloan programs, which 
offer current and potential small business owners the opportunity to 
achieve financial independence, financial security, and dignity through 
work. Sometimes they use it to work their way out of poverty, but 
sometimes they use it to patch together income when they need more 
money, lose a job, want to buy a house or car, or maybe pay for college 
or send a child to college. These entrepreneurs create jobs, provide 
services and products to our communities, and generate tax revenue to 
benefit the economy. Funding microloan programs not only makes economic 
sense; it makes social sense as well.
  In spite of growing support for microloan programs, and in spite of 
the

[[Page S3211]]

return on investment to our economy, microenterprise does not get the 
support in this country that it does in other countries. In 2005, the 
administration provided approximately $211 million for the development 
of foreign microenterprise programs through the Agency for 
International Development, USAID. In fiscal year 2006, we are told that 
the administration provided more than $54 million for microloans in 
Iraq:

        The efforts of the U.S. government in its assistance to 
     Iraq have been broad based. . . For example, over $54 million 
     in micro-loans have been disbursed, resulting in 26,700 loans 
     in twelve cities, and the program is set to expand to even 
     more areas. Also, a Loan Guarantee Corporation is currently 
     being established to encourage private banks to make loans to 
     small businesses.--Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. 
     Ambassador to Iraq, May 9, 2006.

  And for fiscal year 2007, we are told that the administration is 
requesting supplemental funding for Iraq that includes at least $160 
million for microloans.

       We will help local leaders improve their capacity to govern 
     and deliver public services. Our economic efforts will be 
     more targeted on specific local needs with proven records of 
     success, like micro-credit programs. And we will engage with 
     leading private sector enterprises and other local 
     businesses, including the more promising state-owned firms, 
     to break the obstacles to growth.--Secretary of State 
     Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the 
     administration's plan for Iraq, January 11, 2007.

  At the same time, the President has proposed for fiscal years 2005, 
2006, 2007, and 2008 eliminating all funding for the SBA's microloan 
programs.
  Today I not only honor and recognize the genius of Dr. Yunus, but 
also call attention to President Bush's lack of support for U.S. 
microloans and call on the administration to reverse its policy. If we 
can support microloans in Baghdad, we should support microloans in 
Boston, and every other city that's home to a would-be entrepreneur.
  I am honored to add my name in support of Dr. Muhammad Yunus, and I 
am gratified to see the support he has received among my colleagues. 
But I also implore my colleagues to pay tribute to American 
entrepreneurs and to fund the SBA's microloan program. We must honor 
Dr. Yunus's ingenuity with more than words; we must honor him with our 
actions.
                                 ______