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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4141 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4141

      To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
 International Development to take appropriate actions to improve the 
nutritional quality, quality control, and cost effectiveness of United 
            States food assistance, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2012

  Mr. Payne (for himself, Mr. Berman, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. 
Cohen, and Ms. Bass of California) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to 
     the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
      To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
 International Development to take appropriate actions to improve the 
nutritional quality, quality control, and cost effectiveness of United 
            States food assistance, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Food Assistance 
Improvement Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) For more than 55 years the United States, backed by the 
        support of the American people, has been committed to providing 
        life-saving food assistance to developing countries and 
        vulnerable populations around the world.
            (2) As the largest donor of international food assistance, 
        an essential tool in tackling malnutrition, the United States 
        can lead the way in improving food aid quality to better target 
        undernourished women and children.
            (3) The United States contributes over one-half of all food 
        aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development and 
        plays an important role in responding to emergency food aid 
        needs and ensuring global food security.
            (4) Over the past decade, increasing food prices and 
        protracted humanitarian crises around the world have made 
        United States food assistance even more critical and relevant. 
        At the same time, these factors, combined with advancements in 
        nutrition science, as well as severe and ongoing fiscal 
        constraints, have led to an increased demand by policymakers 
        and program implementers for new specially formulated and cost-
        effective products to meet the nutritional needs of the world's 
        most vulnerable populations.
            (5) While United States food assistance is effective in 
        providing critical calories and nutrients to millions of people 
        during short-term emergencies, the long-term impacts of these 
        programs have also been increasingly called into question for 
        not meeting the nutritional needs of recipient populations.
            (6) Reducing maternal and child malnutrition, especially in 
        the critical 1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2, is a key 
        priority of United States global food security and health 
        initiatives, including food aid.
            (7) Recent reports by the Government Accountability Office 
        and the United States Agency for International Development 
        recommended over 35 changes to United States food aid products 
        and programs to improve the nutritional quality, quality 
        control, and cost effectiveness of United States food 
        assistance.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) even in this time of fiscal austerity, the American 
        people support the United States Government's historic 
        commitment to providing life-saving food assistance to the 
        world's most vulnerable populations;
            (2) high food prices, coupled with growing constraints on 
        available resources for foreign assistance require the United 
        States Government to focus on creating efficiencies, improving 
        quality controls, and maximizing cost-effectiveness and 
        nutritional impact of United States food assistance programs;
            (3) improving maternal and child health with supplemental 
        nutrition products is a central objective of international food 
        assistance programs; and
            (4) the United States has shown considerable leadership in 
        meeting the nutrition needs of pregnant women and small 
        children through the 1,000 Days Partnership to support the 
        Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement.

SEC. 4. PROVISION OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

    Section 202(h) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1722(h)) is 
amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall use funds made 
        available in fiscal year 2012 and subsequent fiscal years to 
        carry out this title to improve the nutritional quality of 
        United States food assistance, particularly for vulnerable 
        groups such as pregnant and lactating mothers, children under 
        the age of five, with a focus on the cost-effective 1,000 days 
        between pregnancy and age 2, when appropriate, and 
        beneficiaries under the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS 
        Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), including by--
                    ``(A) adopting new specifications or improving 
                existing specifications for micronutrient fortified 
                food aid products, based on the latest developments in 
                food and nutrition science;
                    ``(B) strengthening necessary systems to better 
                assess the types and quality of agricultural 
                commodities and products donated for food assistance;
                    ``(C) adjusting products and formulations, 
                including potential introduction of new fortificants 
                and products, as necessary to cost effectively meet 
                nutrient needs of target populations;
                    ``(D) testing prototypes;
                    ``(E) developing new program guidance to facilitate 
                improved matching of products to purposes having 
                nutritional intent, including an updated commodity 
                reference guide and decision tools;
                    ``(F) developing enhanced guidance, in coordination 
                with the Coordinator of United States Government 
                Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally and PEPFAR, to 
                support the allocation of food commodities and products 
                for nutrition support in HIV programming, using 
                standardized indicators of impact;
                    ``(G) providing improved guidance to implementing 
                partners on how to address nutritional deficiencies 
                that emerge among recipients for whom food assistance 
                is the sole source of diet in emergency programs that 
                extend beyond one year;
                    ``(H) considering options for using United States-
                produced food fortification packages, including vitamin 
                and mineral mixes, to fortify local foods in recipient 
                countries, as appropriate; and
                    ``(I) evaluating, in appropriate program settings 
                and as necessary, the performance and cost-
                effectiveness of new or modified specialized food 
                products and program approaches designed to meet the 
                nutritional needs of the most vulnerable groups.''.

SEC. 5. FOOD AID CONSULTATIVE GROUP.

    (a) Membership.--Section 205(b) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 
1725(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) nutrition science experts from academia and 
        nongovernmental organizations.''.
    (b) Coordination and Oversight.--Section 205 of the Food for Peace 
Act (7 U.S.C. 1725) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as 
        subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Coordination and Oversight.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall work within the 
        Group to take the actions described in paragraph (2) to 
        increase coordination and oversight of food assistance programs 
        established and implemented under this Act, with a primary 
        focus on improving quality control and cost effectiveness.
            ``(2) Actions described.--The actions referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are the following:
                    ``(A) Explore and test options for improved 
                packaging and storage of products to improve shelf 
                life, promote recommended usage by intended 
                beneficiaries, and oversee field-testing of products.
                    ``(B) Work closely with the Department of 
                Agriculture, to undertake reforms in commodity 
                acquisition and supply chain management, drawing on 
                best commercial practices for vendor selection, quality 
                assurance standards, overall management of the supply 
                chain, and auditing of food aid commodity suppliers.
                    ``(C) Develop mechanisms and partnerships to 
                facilitate more private sector development and 
                innovation in food aid products, packaging, and 
                delivery in order to improve the cost-effectiveness, 
                nutritional quality, and overall acceptability of the 
                product.
                    ``(D) Provide guidance to implementing partners on 
                whether and how best to use food aid commodities, such 
                as new specialized food products, including guidance on 
                targeting strategies to ensure that the products reach 
                their intended recipients.
                    ``(E) As appropriate, work to strengthen monitoring 
                of commodity quality by identifying and tracking key 
                quality indicators to determine the full extent of 
                quality problems, including emerging concerns.
                    ``(F) Establish processes and system-wide protocols 
                for effective monitoring and evaluation of impact, to 
                inform improved program design and address improving 
                cost-effectiveness.''.

SEC. 6. STRATEGY AND REPORT.

    (a) Strategy.--The Administrator shall ensure that any United 
States Government strategy relating to global food security includes a 
description of how food assistance programs carried out under the Food 
for Peace Act will contribute to, and be integrated with, such 
strategy.
    (b) Report.--The Administrator shall ensure that comprehensive 
information regarding budgets and expenditures, monitoring and 
evaluation, policy, and coordination of food assistance programs 
carried out under the Food for Peace Act is included, as appropriate, 
in relevant reports submitted to Congress pursuant to the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 and Acts making appropriations for the 
Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

SEC. 8. FUNDING.

    Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be 
construed to authorize the appropriation of amounts to carry out this 
Act or any amendment made by this Act.
                                 <all>
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