[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13773-13774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              GRAMEEN BANK

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to speak about 
troubling actions by the Government of Bangladesh against the Grameen 
Bank.
  Founded in 1983 by Professor Mohammed Yunus, the Grameen Bank has 
been a model of the immense potential of microfinance for economic 
development. By providing small loans to the

[[Page 13774]]

world's poorest people who possess the skills but not the financing 
needed to start a small business, microcredit institutions have shown 
to be successful in promoting the most effective means of poverty 
reduction, the empowerment of women. The Grameen Bank, about which 
volumes have been written, has been a leading example of these 
successful borrower-owned banks, and the model has spread from 
Bangladesh throughout Southeast Asia and beyond.
  The proposal of the Government of Bangladesh to dissolve the Grameen 
Bank into 19 separate entities would curtail one of the best mechanisms 
for reducing poverty in Bangladesh. This radical restructuring would 
fragment Grameeen's governance structure, essentially rendering it 
powerless. It would move ownership of the bank from the people with a 
vested interest in its success to an assortment of agencies with no 
legal relationships with the public.
  The force behind the efforts to weaken the Grameen Bank is none other 
than Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has clashed with Professor Yunus 
since the latter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 and expressed 
interest in running for public office himself. Threatened by Professor 
Yunus' popularity, the Prime Minister has tried for years to undermine 
his authority and influence.
  The Grameen Bank has been targeted by the government-created Grameen 
Bank Commission, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was instrumental in 
Yunus' removal from his position as Grameen's managing director through 
an age mandated retirement although no such mandate exists for the 
country's private banks. Most recently, the government has accused 
several microcredit companies founded by Professor Yunus of failing to 
pay taxes, which he has denied as baseless. The Prime Minister's 
vendetta against Professor Yunus seems to have no limit.
  I want to echo the sentiments of my friend Senator Durbin who has 
spoken about this, as well as 17 Senators, who sent a letter to Prime 
Minister Sheikh Hasina last year. I join them and leaders of goodwill 
around the world in supporting the Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus. 
They have been bright spots in one of the world's poorest countries 
whose own nationalized banks are failing.
  Millions of Bangladesh's poorest people, particularly women, need 
access to the credit the Grameen Bank provides. Rather than continue to 
persecute Professor Yunus, the Prime Minister and her government should 
learn from his example and redirect their efforts to helping improve 
the lives of the people they have a responsibility to serve.

                          ____________________