[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20914-20915]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         OVERSEAS COOPERATIVES

  Mr. HAGEL. Madam President, I rise to commend Senator Leahy and 
Senator McConnell for their leadership in crafting the Fiscal Year 2002 
Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill.
  I am here today to state my continued support of international 
economic assistance for programs that utilize cooperatives and credit 
unions. Last year, Senators Grams, Feingold and I sponsored the Support 
for Overseas Development Act, S. 3072. This Act was included as part of 
a larger bill, the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance and International 
Anti-Corruption Act, H.R. 4673, which was signed into public law on 
October 17, 2000. This bipartisan legislation enhances current language 
in Section 111 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
  Overseas cooperatives foster similar principles abroad that U.S. 
cooperatives are based on: free democratic associations of mutual 
benefit for members. For four decades, cooperatives and credit unions 
have proven to be an effective and efficient way to assist people in 
developing and market transition countries. Currently, U.S. 
cooperatives are working in over 67 different countries.
  Under our legislation, USAID is encouraged to put greater priority on 
the development of agricultural cooperatives for marketing, processing 
and inputs. USAID should explore community-based cooperatives for rural 
electric and telephone service when national utilities are privatized. 
Strong financial cooperatives, such as credit unions and farm credit 
associations, are ways to generate member-owned savings and provide 
micro-loans to entrepreneurs and farmers. Housing and community 
development cooperatives can address issues such as daycare for HIV/
AIDS, orphans and community responses to environmental problems such as 
solid waste collection.
  The Administrator of USAID, Andrew Natsios, is currently putting 
together a report to Congress regarding the implementation plan for 
this legislation. I am looking forward to reviewing this report.
  Credit unions and rural cooperatives are able to mobilize local 
savings or equity for micro-loans as a way to provide greater food 
security, the world's poor need access to microenterprise loans, credit 
and savings. Rural areas in developing countries need electricity and 
telecommunications, yet history shows that there are insufficient 
profits for private companies to enter these markets. Cooperatives 
should be part of programs pursued by the World Bank and other 
multilateral institutions to enhance rural communities as part of their 
private sector approaches.
  USAID can tap cooperative methodologies to bridge ethnic and 
sectarian differences to build communities in areas that are rife with 
conflict. In communities ravaged by HIV/AIDS, war, terrorism and 
inequality, cooperatives empower communities. Cooperatives are direct 
and meaningful expressions of diplomacy where poor people can 
participate in decision-making that affects their daily lives.

[[Page 20915]]

  Overseas cooperatives are an important way to promote broad-based 
economic, political and social development. I am looking forward to 
progress on this legislation in fiscal year 2002.

                          ____________________