Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696584957527.pdf (United States)
G:\M\17\MCGOVE\MCGOVE_041.XML ..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES.

ll Expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to building on the twenty years of success of the George McGovern-Robert Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. MCGOVERN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll RESOLUTION Expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to building on the twenty years of success of the George McGovern-Robert Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
Whereas the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (re- ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘McGovern-Dole Pro- gram’’) has improved the food security, nutrition, lit- eracy, and primary education of school-age children, par- ticularly young girls, and their families in over 48 coun- tries in just two decades; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program was established by sec- tion 3107 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C.
1736o–1) to procure agricultural commodities and provide financial and technical assist- ance to carry out preschool and school food for education programs in foreign countries and maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children who are 5 years of age or younger; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program has provided over 5.5 billion school meals benefitting over 31 million school-age children and their communities; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program has been successfully administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the Department of Agriculture; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program is a key program of the Department of Agriculture aligned with the govern- mentwide Global Food Security Strategy; Whereas in fiscal year 2021 alone, McGovern-Dole Program projects have directly benefitted more than 4.5 million children and community members through the distribu- tion of United States-produced commodities that provide daily nutritious and high-quality meals and mitigate food insecurity; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program partners with Amer- ican farmers, who provide 46,770 metric tons (‘‘MT’’) of food commodities in support of fiscal year 2021 McGov- ern-Dole Program grants in Central America, Africa, and Asia; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program complements United States agricultural commodities with food grown and pur- chased locally to support farmers and markets within their own communities and to build the capacity of local governments and communities to continue and sustain the benefits of the McGovern-Dole Program into the fu- ture; Whereas during the COVID–19 pandemic when school clo- sures were commonplace, the McGovern-Dole Program effectively shifted from providing meals in schools to pro- viding take-home
 rations and distributed approximately 23,000 MT of commodities donated by the United States and 550 MT of locally procured commodities to more than 1,700,000 McGovern-Dole Program participants and their families across 26 active projects, ensuring that children continued to receive daily meals and learn while at home; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program recognizes the value of educating young girls and contributes to overcoming the barriers they encounter in accessing a high-quality edu- cation by promoting equality and the reduction of gender- based violence; Whereas school meals provide an incentive for families to send girls to school and help girls to stay in school, effec- tively preventing early marriage and delaying first preg- nancy, which can trap young women in poverty and limit their future potential; Whereas the McGovern-Dole Program strengthens local com- munity health and education through the formation of parent-teacher associations, teacher training, and improv- ing the infrastructure of schools, classrooms, commodity storerooms, latrines, and water sources; and Whereas the United States, as a member of the Global School Meals Coalition, is committed to and recognizes that in- vestments in McGovern-Dole Program, are central to bol- stering food security, building resilience to future shocks, and supporting the nutritional, health, and educational needs of children and adolescents worldwide: Now, there- fore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- resentatives that the United States is committed to— (1) building upon the twenty years of successful work of the George McGovern-Robert Dole Inter- national Food for Education and Child
 Nutrition Program (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘McGovern-Dole Program’’) and its positive role in breaking cycles of hunger and poverty, providing op- portunity through education and literacy, and im- proving overall nutrition and health; (2) complementing humanitarian assistance ef- forts and development programs through the contin- ued implementation of the McGovern-Dole Program that addresses global food insecurity and creates conditions for peace and stability; and (3) supporting United States farmers, millers, shippers, and commodity groups that provide agri- cultural commodities for use in the McGovern-Dole Program to help combat global malnutrition and food insecurity and advance global education.