Growth Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I come to the floor to urge my colleagues to join me in addressing challenges facing women in the developing world. Senator Hutchison and I introduced the GROWTH Act to focus U.S. developmental assistance and strengthen the role of women in developing countries.

Families, particularly in the developing world, would not survive were it not for the critical contributions of women. Rural women produce 50 percent of the world's total food, 60-80 percent of the food in the developing world, and most of the staples, such as rice, wheat, and maize, that provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food intake.

Yet these women often bear the brunt of economic, legal, and social inequality.

For example, because of the inequality in inheritance laws or the lack of enforcement of such laws, women are often dispossessed of their property when their husbands die. In fact, even though they overwhelmingly tend the fields and produce the food that keep their families alive, women in the developing world own less than 15 percent of land and in many African countries less than 1 percent.

Economic, legal, and social inequalities have had a measureable impact on the ability of women in the developing world to earn an adequate living and support their families. The statistics are sobering--women make up 60 percent of the world's working poor, 70 percent of the hungry, and 67 percent of the illiterate.

Thus, improving the economic conditions of women is key to improving economic conditions in the developing world. Even more importantly, improving the economic conditions of women is key to the future of the children in these countries.

Study after study shows that women in developing countries are more likely to use their income for food, health care and education for their children. As a result, greater economic opportunities for women means that their babies are more likely to survive infancy, their children, especially their daughters, are more likely to attend school, and their families are more likely to eat nutritious meals.

One way to improve economic opportunity is to expand women's access to microcredit programs. Microcredit is an economically viable model of extending very small loans, at competitive interest rates, to the very poor. These loans allow the recipients, who are overwhelmingly women, to open or expand businesses and often allow them to lift their family out of poverty.

When you talk about microcredit, you must talk about Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Dr. Yunus is the recognized developer of the microcredit model. In 1976, he launched what has become a global movement to create economic and social development from below with a loan of just $27 from his own pockets to 42 crafts persons in a small village in Bangladesh. Today, the Grameen Bank, which he founded to carry out his work, operates in more than 84,000 villages and has provided more than $8 billion in low-interest loans to nearly 8 million people.

Over the past 30 years, his microcredit model has changed millions of lives, directly and indirectly positively affecting the lives of as many as 155 million people.

In 2006, Dr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for developing this microcredit model.

The award of the Noble Peace Prize to Dr. Yunus recognized that lasting peace and prosperity cannot be achieved unless large numbers of the world's poor have the means to break out of poverty.

Earlier this year, Senator Bennett and I offered the Dr. Muhammad Yunus Gold Medal Act, S. 864, to honor Dr. Yunus's efforts. I thank my 59 colleagues who have already agreed to cosponsor S. 864 and urge the rest of my colleagues to do the same.

Today I also urge my colleagues to support S. 1425, the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive, or GROWTH, Act of 2009. Senator Hutchison and I offered the GROWTH Act on July 9 to expand on Dr. Yunus's microcredit model and focus U.S. developmental assistance on tackling many of the obstacles to economic empowerment of women in the developing world.

The GROWTH Act would not only empower women by giving them the financial tools to start and grow their own businesses, it would create broader opportunities through educational, legal, and community building programs.

The GROWTH Act is comprehensive legislation that, among other efforts, increases women's ability to start and develop businesses through enhanced microfinance, microenterprise loans, and related financial tools. It also supports various efforts to enhance women's land and property rights, and increases women's employment opportunities and improves working conditions for women through education, skills training, and advocacy programs.

The GROWTH Act is an important step forward in attacking the underlying economic inequalities in the developing world that hold women back from their full potential.

I thank Senator Hutchison for again joining me in offering the GROWTH Act, as well as Senators COLLINS, LANDRIEU, SHAHEEN, GILLIBRAND, SANDERS, CASEY, WHITEHOUSE, and JOHNSON for joining the effort as cosponsors. I urge the rest of my colleagues to empower women in the developing world by supporting S. 1425.

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