I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2297 

To require the President to call a White House Conference on Food and 

Nutrition. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2009 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself and Mrs. EMERSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to 

the Committee on Rules, 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 require the President to call a White House Conference 

on Food and Nutrition. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The White House Con5 ference on Food and Nutrition’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Hunger and undernutrition are political 

9 conditions that can be solved. 


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1 (2) Access to healthy food and good nutrition 

2 should be a fundamental right of all Americans. 

3 (3) Nearly 40 years have passed since the 

4 United States convened a White House conference to 

5 comprehensively address the issues of food, hunger, 

6 health, and nutrition in America. 

7 (4) More than 35,500,000 Americans live in 

8 households that face a constant struggle against 

9 hunger, 12,600,000 of whom are children and 

10 5,000,000 of whom are seniors, the disabled, and the 

11 critically ill. 

12 (5) The Government spends more than 

13 $55,000,000,000 every year responding to the con14 current epidemics of hunger and undernutrition, yet 

15 the number of Americans facing hunger continues to 

16 grow and our Nation’s nutritional health is declin17 ing. 

18 (6) Conservative cost estimates show that the 

19 true cost of hunger and illness related to undernutri20 tion in America is at least $90,000,000,000 a year, 

21 more than half of which is paid by Medicare and 

22 Medicaid. 

23 (7) Appropriate food and nutrition can save the 

24 United States billions of dollars in health care costs 

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1 stage disease for tens of millions of Americans who 

2 live with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, HIV, 

3 AIDS, and heart disease. The costs of the effects 

4 and treatments of those diseases are significantly ex5 acerbated by hunger, food insecurity, and under6 nutrition. 

7 (8) A national discussion of the root causes of 

8 hunger, food insecurity, and undernutrition, as well 

9 as identification of solutions to these epidemics, can 

10 lead to action to implement such solutions and to 

11 end hunger in America. 

12 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE. 

13 (a) AUTHORITY TO CALL CONFERENCE.—Not later 

14 than December 31, 2010, the President shall call the 

15 White House Conference on Food and Nutrition (in this 

16 Act referred to as the ‘‘Conference’’) to be convened not 

17 later than 18 months after the selection of the Policy Com18 mittee established in section 4, in order to make funda19 mental policy recommendations on ways to end hunger 

20 and to improve nutrition in the United States and to im21 plement the purposes set forth in subsection (c). 

22 (b) PLANNING AND DIRECTION.—The Secretary of 

23 Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

24 and the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred 


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1 to as the ‘‘Cochairs’’) shall plan, conduct, and convene the 

2 Conference, in consultation with the Surgeon General. 

3 (c) PURPOSES OF THE CONFERENCE.—The purposes 

4 of the Conference are to— 

5 (1) identify viable solutions for ending hunger 

6 in the United States; 

7 (2) review the current structure, scope, and ef8 fectiveness of existing legislation and programs at 

9 the Federal, State, and local levels that provide for 

10 the nutritional needs of food-insecure people living in 

11 the United States; 

12 (3) determine the extent to which current Fed13 eral, State, and local programs that provide for the 

14 nutritional health of Americans can better use avail15 able resources and ensure greater coordination 

16 among such programs; 

17 (4) identify new ways to utilize the abundant 

18 agricultural resources of the United States to meet 

19 the nutritional needs of all Americans; 

20 (5) highlight emerging and innovative programs 

21 from the public and private sectors, including com22 munity-based and faith-based organizations that ef23 fectively address the nutrition needs of vulnerable 

24 Americans and recommend such programs as can be 

25 reasonably and cost-effectively replicated; 


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1 (6) identify opportunities for effective partner2 ships between the Government, industry, labor, 

3 healthcare, and the nonprofit sectors to fight hunger 

4 in the United States; 

5 (7) explore the possibility of creating a Federal 

6 office within the Department of Agriculture to over7 see the Nation’s response to persistent and wide8 spread hunger and food insecurity, to include the 

9 oversight and coordination of all Federal, State, and 

10 local antihunger programs; 

11 (8) bring public attention to the more than 

12 35,500,000 people living in the United States that 

13 face a constant struggle against hunger, food insecu14 rity, and inadequate nutrition; 

15 (9) illustrate the medical, developmental, and 

16 educational impact of hunger, food insecurity, and 

17 inadequate nutrition, and the potential savings to 

18 the United States health care system, educational 

19 system, and other sectors when appropriate food is 

20 available to the critically and chronically ill; 

21 (10) build understanding of the true cost of 

22 hunger in the United States, to include lost wages, 

23 diminished stamina, reduced capacity to learn, and 

24 the impact of despair; and 


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1 (11) build understanding that the ever-bur2 geoning dual epidemic of hunger and undernutrition 

3 is a matter of national security. 

4 SEC. 4. POLICY COMMITTEE; RELATED COMMITTEES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than June 30, 

6 2009, there is established a Policy Committee comprising 

7 of 17 members to be selected as follows: 

8 (1) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES.—Nine mem9 bers shall be selected by the President and shall in10 clude— 

11 (A) 3 members who are officers or employ12 ees of the United States, including the Surgeon 

13 General; and 

14 (B) 6 members with experience in address15 ing the needs of food-insecure and undernour16 ished people in the United States. 

17 (2) HOUSE APPOINTEES.— 

18 (A) Two members shall be selected by the 

19 Speaker of the House of Representatives after 

20 consultation with the chairperson of the Com21 mittee on Education and Labor, the chair22 person of the Committee on Ways and Means, 

23 and the chairperson of the Committee on Agri24 culture, of the House of Representatives. 


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1 (B) Two members shall be selected by the 

2 minority leader of the House of Representa3 tives, after consultation with the ranking minor4 ity members of such committees. 

5 (3) SENATE APPOINTEES.— 

6 (A) Two members shall be selected by the 

7 majority leader of the Senate, after consultation 

8 with members of the Committee on Health, 

9 Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Committee 

10 on Agriculture, and the Committee on Finance, 

11 of the Senate. 

12 (B) Two members shall be selected by the 

13 minority leader of the Senate, after consultation 

14 with members of such committees. 

15 (b) VOTING; CHAIRPERSON.— 

16 (1) The Policy Committee shall act by the vote 

17 of a majority of the members present. A quorum of 

18 Committee members shall not be required to conduct 

19 Committee business. 

20 (2) The Surgeon General shall serve as the 

21 chairperson of the Policy Committee. The chair22 person may vote only to break a tie vote of the other 

23 members of the Policy Committee. 

24 (c) DUTIES OF THE POLICY COMMITTEE.—The Pol25 icy Committee shall initially meet at the call of the CoVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:49 May 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2297.IH H2297

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1 chairs, not later than 30 days after the last member is 

2 selected under subsection (a). Subsequent meetings of the 

3 Policy Committee shall be held at the call of the chair4 person. Through meetings, hearings, and working ses5 sions, the Policy Committee shall— 

6 (1) make recommendations to the Cochairs to 

7 facilitate the timely convening of the Conference; 

8 (2) submit to the Cochairs a proposed agenda 

9 for the Conference not later than 90 days after the 

10 first meeting of the Policy Committee; 

11 (3) make recommendations for the delegates of 

12 the Conference; 

13 (4) establish the number of delegates to be se14 lected under section 5; and 

15 (5) establish an executive committee consisting 

16 of 3 members of the Policy Committee to work with 

17 delegates of the Conference. 

18 SEC. 5. CONFERENCE DELEGATES. 

19 To carry out the purposes of the Conference, the Co20 chairs shall bring together delegates representative of the 

21 spectrum of thought in the field of food and nutrition, 

22 without regard to political affiliation or past partisan ac23 tivity, who shall include— 

24 (1) representatives of Federal, State, and local 

25 governments; 


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1 (2) professional people and laypeople who are 

2 working in the field of food, health, nutrition, and 

3 economic security; and 

4 (3) representatives of the general public who 

5 are affected by hunger in the United States. 

6 SEC. 6. CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION. 

7 (a) ADMINISTRATION.—In administering this section, 

8 the Cochairs shall— 

9 (1) provide written notice to all members of the 

10 Policy Committee of each meeting, hearing, or work11 ing session of such Committee not later than 48 

12 hours before the occurrence of such meeting, hear13 ing, or working session; 

14 (2) request the cooperation and assistance of 

15 the heads of such other Federal departments and 

16 agencies as may be appropriate, including the detail17 ing of personnel; 

18 (3) make available for public comment a pro19 posed agenda prepared by the Policy Committee, 

20 which will reflect to the greatest extent possible the 

21 major issues facing the field of food and nutrition 

22 consistent with the purposes of the Conference set 

23 forth in section 3(c); 


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1 (4) prepare and make available background ma2 terials that the Cochairs deem necessary for the use 

3 of delegates to the Conference; and 

4 (5) employ such additional personnel as may be 

5 necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act 

6 without regard to provisions of title 5, United States 

7 Code, governing appointments in the competitive 

8 service, and without regard to chapter 51 and sub9 chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to 

10 classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

11 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the Cochairs’s respon12 sibilities and functions under this section, the Cochairs 

13 shall ensure that— 

14 (1) the proposed agenda prepared under sub15 section (a)(3) is published in the Federal Register 

16 not later than 30 days after such agenda is approved 

17 by the Policy Committee; 

18 (2) the personnel employed under subsection 

19 (a)(5) are fairly balanced in terms of points of views 

20 represented and are appointed without regard to po21 litical affiliation or previous partisan activities; 

22 (3) the recommendations of the Conference are 

23 not inappropriately influenced by any public official 

24 or by any special interest, but instead are the result 


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1 of the independent and collective judgment of the 

2 delegates of the Conference; and 

3 (4) before the Conference is convened— 

4 (A) current and adequate statistical data 

5 (including decennial census data) and other in6 formation on food and nutrition in the United 

7 States; and 

8 (B) such information as may be necessary 

9 to evaluate Federal programs and policies relat10 ing to food and nutrition; 

11 which the Cochairs may obtain by making grants to 

12 or entering into an agreement with, public agencies 

13 or nonprofit organizations, are readily available in 

14 advance of the Conference to the delegates. 

15 (c) GIFTS.—The Cochairs may accept, on behalf of 

16 the United States, gifts (in cash or in kind, including vol17 untary and uncompensated services), which shall be avail18 able to carry out this Act. Gifts of cash shall be available 

19 in addition to amounts appropriated to carry out this title. 

20 Gifts may be earmarked by the donor or the executive 

21 committee for a specific purpose. 

22 (d) RECORDS.—The Cochairs shall maintain records 

23 regarding— 

24 (1) the sources, amounts, and uses of gifts ac25 cepted under subsection (c); and 


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1 (2) the identity of each person receiving assist2 ance to carry out this Act, and the amount of such 

3 assistance received by each such person. 

4 SEC. 7. REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE. 

5 (a) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 100 days 

6 after the Conference adjourns, the Policy Committee shall 

7 prepare a preliminary report on the Conference which 

8 shall be published in the Federal Register and submitted 

9 to the chief executive officers of the States. The Policy 

10 Committee shall request that the chief executive officers 

11 of the States submit to the Policy Committee, not later 

12 than 45 days after receiving such report, their views and 

13 findings on such report. 

14 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

15 the date on which the Conference adjourns, the Policy 

16 Committee shall— 

17 (1) prepare a final report of the Conference 

18 which shall include a compilation of the views and 

19 findings of the chief executive officers of the States 

20 received under subsection (a); and 

21 (2) publish in the Federal Register, and trans22 mit to the President and to Congress, the rec23 ommendations for the administrative action and the 

24 legislation necessary to implement the recommenda25 tions contained in such report. 


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1 SEC. 8. STATUS REPORTS. 

2 (a) INITIAL STATUS REPORT.—Not later than 2 

3 years after the date on which the Conference adjourns, 

4 the Surgeon General shall— 

5 (1) prepare a status report documenting the im6 plementation of the recommendations contained in 

7 the final report described in section 7(b)(1); and 

8 (2) publish in the Federal Register, and trans9 mit to the President and to Congress, such status 

10 report. 

11 (b) SUBSEQUENT STATUS REPORTS.—Not later than 

12 5 years after the date on which the Conference adjourns, 

13 and every 5 years thereafter until all recommendations in 

14 the final report described in section 7(b)(1) are achieved, 

15 the Comptroller General shall— 

16 (1) prepare a status report documenting the im17 plementation of the recommendations contained in 

18 such final report; and 

19 (2) publish in the Federal Register, and trans20 mit to the President and to Congress, such status 

21 report. 

22 SEC. 9. COMMITTEE HEARINGS. 

23 (a) HEARINGS ON REPORTS.—The Committee on Ag24 riculture of the House of Representatives and the Com25 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen26 ate shall each hold hearings on the recommendations and 


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1 status reports received by Congress under sections 

2 7(b)(2), 8(a)(2), and 8(b)(2); 

3 (b) HEARINGS ON STATUS OF HUNGER.—The Com4 mittee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 

5 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

6 the Senate shall each hold annual hearings on the status 

7 of hunger and food insecurity in the United States; 

8 (c) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—Sub9 sections (a) and (b) are enacted— 

10 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

11 the House of Representatives and Senate, and, as 

12 such, they shall be considered as part of the rules 

13 of the House or Senate (as the case may be), and 

14 such rules shall supersede any other rule of the 

15 House or Senate only to the extent that rule is in16 consistent therewith; and 

17 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

18 right of either House to change such rules (so far 

19 as relating to the procedure in such House) at any 

20 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 

21 as in the case of any other rule of the House or Sen22 ate. 

23 SEC. 10. DEFINITION OF STATE. 

24 For the purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means 

25 any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the 


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1 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, 

2 the Virgin Islands of the United States, or the Common3 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

4 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

7 appropriated to carry out this Act— 

8 (A) such sums as may be necessary for the 

9 first fiscal year in which the Policy Committee 

10 plans the Conference and for the following fis11 cal year; and 

12 (B) such sums as may be necessary for the 

13 fiscal year in which the Conference is held. 

14 (2) LIMITATION.—Any new spending authority 

15 or new authority to enter into contracts under this 

16 Act, and under which the United States is obligated 

17 to make outlays, shall be effective only to the extent, 

18 and in such amounts, as are provided in advance in 

19 appropriation Acts. 

20 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (3), funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

23 and funds received as gifts under section 6(c) shall 

24 remain available for obligation or expenditure until 


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1 the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the 

2 date the Conference adjourns. 

3 (2) UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.—Except as provided 

4 in paragraph (3), any such funds neither expended 

5 nor obligated before the expiration of the 1-year pe6 riod beginning on the date the Conference adjourns 

7 shall be returned to the United States Treasury. 

8 (3) CONFERENCE NOT CONVENED.—If the Con9 ference is not convened before December 31, 2010, 

10 a trust fund shall be established and such funds 

11 shall only be available for a future Conference on 

12 Food and Nutrition. 

Æ 


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