In the aftermath of September 11 we learned that one of the underlying causes of terrorism is the extreme poverty that plagues the world. Indeed, half of the world lives on less than $2 a day and the poorest 1/5th survive on less than $1 a day. President Bush has acknowledged this fact and pledged to double foreign aid as well as signed on to the G-7 Summit goal to halve world poverty by 2015. Despite these pledges, Speaker Hastert has failed to even place a key poverty reduction bill on the legislative agenda in this lame duck session.

The Microenterprise Enterprise Reauthorizaton Bill HR 4073 would allocate $175 million for microcredit in 2003 and $200 million in 2004 with stipulations that at least half be targeted for the very poor (loans under $300) and new provisions for poverty measurement that insure these targets are met.

Microcredit programs around the world have proven remarkably effective in reducing poverty. A recent study by the World Bank of one of the largest programs, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, shows that 70 percent of its 2.3 million borrowers had moved out of extreme poverty within 5 years. They achieved this while paying back their loans with interest at a high 95 percent rate.

This bill lacks only final approval in the House of Representatives and President Bush’s signature to become law. Speaker Hastert should place this bill on the agenda and urge it passage. We should urge our Republican MOC’s to request that he do so.

Alan Newberg
Bremerton