[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN:
  S. 4962. A bill to establish within the Office of Gender Equality and 
Women's Empowerment of the United States Agency for International 
Development a rural mobility program to promote mobility in rural 
communities through access to affordable, fit-for-purpose bicycles, to 
provide support to sustainably increase access to rural areas, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to do something unusual on 
the floor of the Senate. I would like to report some good news. It 
isn't often we have these reports. Today, I have three items in my news 
that I would like to share with the people who are following this. I 
would like to start my remarks by sharing an incredible story from the 
other side of the world.
  In May 2020, as the world was reeling from the spread of the deadly 
new strain of the coronavirus, the Red Cross society in the African 
nation of Kenya received 500 bicycles from a Chicago-based, 
nongovernmental organization known as World Bicycle Relief. Community 
healthworkers used these bicycles to make house visits across southern 
Kenya, providing health services to remote communities that would 
otherwise not be reached because of restrictions on movement due to 
COVID-19.
  In Malawi, young girls used these bicycles to get safely to and from 
school, and when COVID-19 closed the schools down, girls like 17-year-
old Elizabeth were able to shift focus to help their parents, who are 
farmers, weather the economic effects of the pandemic. She used her 
bicycle to take their produce to market.
  Stories like these are common around the world, showing the value of 
a simple, relatively inexpensive, green, and easy-to-repair means of 
mobility--a bicycle--to help meet important development objectives.
  Since its founding in 2005, the World Bicycle Relief of Chicago has 
done great work in helping displaced survivors after a natural disaster 
in Sri Lanka, allowing farmers to move crops in Zambia, and getting 
girls to school in Malawi.
  I have even seen myself how a bicycle ambulance in rural Tanzania can 
change lives; and not long ago, my staff saw the group's efforts in 
Kenya, where more than 25,000 sustainable, rugged bicycles have been 
provided.
  Since 2019, I have worked through appropriations to push USAID to 
invest in bicycles, which help meet the needs in healthcare, education, 
women and girls' empowerment, and more. Part of this funding has 
included an in-depth assessment to see what is most useful and how to 
make the programs locally sustainable. They not only send bikes; they 
send parts and then train the repairmen. USAID has used these lessons 
and opportunities with increasing success thanks to the work of many 
groups, including that of the World Bicycle Relief of Chicago.
  Today, I am introducing legislation in partnering with the Kenya 
bicycle world and U.S. House of Representatives' Representative Earl 
Blumenauer of Oregon. Our bill is going to codify these important 
efforts and formalize the creation of a mobility program within USAID's 
Office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.
  COVID-19 has taught us that a global health crisis can easily turn 
into an economic crisis, a food crisis, a mobility crisis, and more. 
Sometimes the simplest things, like a bicycle, can help make incredible 
progress.
  That is item No. 1.
  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. 4962

       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 ``Bicycles for Rural African 
     Transport Act''.

     SEC. 2. RURAL MOBILITY PROGRAM IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--The Administrator of the United States 
     Agency for International Development (referred to in this 
     section as ``USAID'') shall establish, within the Office of 
     Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, a rural mobility 
     program (referred to in this section as the ``Program'') to 
     carry out the purposes described in paragraph (2), including 
     through grants made to eligible nongovernmental partner 
     organizations. In making such grants, the Administrator shall 
     give priority to organizations with demonstrated success 
     conducting rural mobility programs in the region for such 
     purposes.
       (2) Purpose.--The Program shall focus on country-driven 
     projects within sub-Saharan Africa that--
       (A) promote rural communities' access to critical services 
     and opportunities, including education, health care, and 
     livelihood opportunities, through access to affordable, fit-
     for-purpose bicycles; and
       (B) provide support to sustainably increase access to 
     critical services, such as education, health care, and 
     livelihood opportunities in rural areas, including through 
     support for rural-based mechanics, access to spare parts, 
     reduction of social and gender-based stigma, and community 
     project management capacity.
       (3) Partnerships.--To the greatest extent practicable, the 
     Program shall partner with existing entities outside the 
     United States that have successful models for providing 
     access to affordable bicycles to achieve development 
     objectives.
       (4) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section--
       (A) $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2023 and 2024;
       (B) $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 and 2026; 
     and
       (C) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and for each fiscal 
     year thereafter.
       (b) Report.--
       (1) Prior projects.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID 
     shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
     of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, 
     the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
     House of Representatives that, with respect to each of the 
     fiscal years 2019 through 2022--
       (A) describes the projects carried out by USAID that relate 
     to any of the purposes described in subsection (a)(2);
       (B) identifies the countries in which USAID embedded rural 
     bicycle mobility into strategies, programs, and projects of 
     USAID and describes the mechanisms by which rural bicycle 
     mobility was so embedded;
       (C) specifies the number of bicycles distributed through 
     projects carried out by USAID; and
       (D) assesses the outcomes for, and impacts on, participants 
     in such projects and the efforts of USAID to disseminate 
     lessons learned from such projects.
       (2) Current projects.--Not later than December 30, 2024, 
     and each December 30 thereafter, the Administrator of USAID 
     shall submit a report to the congressional committees 
     referred to in paragraph (1) that--
       (A) describes the projects carried out by USAID during the 
     most recently concluded fiscal year; and
       (B) includes information relating to the matters described 
     in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of paragraph (1).
                                 ______