By: Ellis S.R. No. 95
1-1 1
1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION
1-3 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas takes great
1-4 pleasure in honoring Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing
1-5 director of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh; and
1-6 WHEREAS, Dr. Yunus will be in Houston on February 8, 1997,
1-7 for the presentation of his seminars, "Houston: Microcredit--The
1-8 New Frontier in Banking and Business" and "Beyond Microcredit
1-9 --Building Bridges to Welfare Reform and the 21st Century"; and
1-10 WHEREAS, His experience in banking has made him the world's
1-11 foremost practitioner in the field of microcredit lending; his
1-12 seminars will focus on the Grameen Bank's experience and provide
1-13 information on how microcredit-based self-employment can become
1-14 part of the solution to the problem of poverty in other countries,
1-15 including the United States; and
1-16 WHEREAS, Since its founding in 1976, the Grameen Bank
1-17 has disbursed over $2 billion in loans averaging $140 each; it
1-18 currently has 2.1 million borrowers and lends approximately
1-19 $1.5 million a day, with a repayment rate of 98 percent; and
1-20 WHEREAS, Believing that credit is a human right, Dr. Yunus
1-21 started the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to make very small loans
1-22 to very poor women who wanted to start their own businesses; the
1-23 loans were used to purchase start-up equipment, and the bank has
2-1 been so successful that it is being copied around the world; and
2-2 WHEREAS, Using his own money for his first disbursements,
2-3 Dr. Yunus has helped millions of women and their families in his
2-4 own country and in 40 other countries who had no hope of escape
2-5 overcome abject poverty; and
2-6 WHEREAS, A paradox for most financiers, the Grameen Bank
2-7 requires no collateral; instead, four other women who cosign the
2-8 note agree on the nature of the enterprise and the way to proceed;
2-9 if the chief borrower defaults, the other women become ineligible
2-10 for loans; choosing between dignity and shame, most borrowers
2-11 choose dignity; and
2-12 WHEREAS, The Grameen Bank has received praise from
2-13 policymakers in the United States, and Congress has recently
2-14 voted $33 million to help set up a similar banking community for
2-15 small enterprises; viewing his bank as an example of reinvented
2-16 capitalism, Dr. Yunus calls it a "socially conscious capitalist
2-17 enterprise"; and
2-18 WHEREAS, A native of Bangladesh, Dr. Yunus received his
2-19 doctorate in economics from Vanderbilt University; among his
2-20 academic honors are a Fulbright Fellowship and an Eisenhower
2-21 Exchange Fellowship; formerly professor of economics at
2-22 Chittagong University, Dr. Yunus is a member of the Government
2-23 Cabinet of Bangladesh and a nominee for President of the World
2-24 Bank; and
2-25 WHEREAS, Dr. Yunus has received international praise for
3-1 his visionary approach to poverty, and his honors include the
3-2 1992 King Baudouin Development Prize, the 1993 CARE Humanitarian
3-3 Award for Development, and the 1994 World Food Prize; now,
3-4 therefore, be it
3-5 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
3-6 75th Legislature, hereby commend and applaud Dr. Muhammad Yunus
3-7 for his extraordinary humanitarian efforts to help poverty-stricken
3-8 people throughout the world achieve financial independence,
3-9 self-respect, and hope for their families; and, be it further
3-10 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for
3-11 the distinguished gentleman as an expression of the high esteem
3-12 and gratitude of the Texas Senate.
3-13 ______________________________________
3-14 President of the Senate
3-15 I hereby certify that the above
3-16 Resolution was adopted by the Senate
3-17 on February 3, 1997.
3-18 ______________________________________
3-19 Secretary of the Senate
3-20 ______________________________________
3-21 Member, Texas Senate