II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 436 

To respond to the looming global food crisis precipitated by Russia’s invasion 

of Ukraine. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 

Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To respond to the looming global food crisis precipitated 

by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Allies Food 

5 in Emergencies Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States to respond to 

8 the looming global food crisis precipitated by the Russian 

9 Federation’s brutal, illegal invasion of Ukraine beginning 

10 in February 2022, which threatens to destabilize key partVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436

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1 ners and allies and push millions of people into hunger 

2 and poverty, particularly in areas of Africa and the Middle 

3 East that are already experiencing emergency levels of 

4 food insecurity, by taking immediate action to improve the 

5 timeliness and expand the reach of United States inter6 national food assistance. 

7 SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO AVERT A GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS. 

8 (a) STRATEGY REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 30 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad10 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

11 Development, acting in the capacity of the President’s 

12 Special Coordinator for International Disaster Assistance 

13 pursuant to section 493 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

14 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292b), shall develop and submit a strat15 egy to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

16 and Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep17 resentatives for averting a catastrophic global food secu18 rity crisis, particularly in areas of Africa and the Middle 

19 East that are already experiencing emergency levels of 

20 food insecurity, which has been driven by sharp increases 

21 in global prices for staple agricultural commodities, agri22 cultural inputs (including fertilizer), and associated energy 

23 costs. 


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1 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the strategy 

2 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall consider and 

3 incorporate an analysis of— 

4 (1) the impact of the Russian Federation’s bru5 tal, illegal war in Ukraine on the cost and avail6 ability of staple agricultural commodities and inputs, 

7 including fertilizer— 

8 (A) globally; 

9 (B) in countries that rely upon commercial 

10 imports of such commodities and inputs from 

11 Ukraine or Russia; and 

12 (C) in countries that are supported 

13 through the United Nations World Food Pro14 gramme, which heavily relies upon purchases of 

15 wheat and pulses from Ukraine and has re16 cently reported a price increase of more than 

17 $23,000,000 per month for its wheat purchases; 

18 (2) the correlation between rising food costs 

19 and social unrest in areas of strategic importance to 

20 the United States, including countries and regions 

21 that experienced food riots during the 2007 to 2008 

22 global food price crisis; 

23 (3) the underlying drivers of food insecurity in 

24 areas experiencing emergency levels of hunger, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436

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1 cluding current barriers to food security development 

2 programs and humanitarian assistance; 

3 (4) existing United States foreign assistance 

4 authorities, programs, and resources that could help 

5 avert a catastrophic global food crisis; 

6 (5) recommendations to enhance the efficiency, 

7 improve the timeliness, and expand the reach of 

8 United States international food assistance pro9 grams and resources referred to in paragraph (4); 

10 (6) opportunities to bolster coordination, cata11 lyze and leverage actions by other donors and 

12 through multilateral development banks; 

13 (7) opportunities to better synchronize assist14 ance through well-coordinated development and hu15 manitarian assistance programs within the United 

16 States Agency for International Development and 

17 alongside other donors; 

18 (8) opportunities to improve supply chain and 

19 shipping logistics efficiencies in close collaboration 

20 with the private sector; 

21 (9) opportunities for increased cooperation with 

22 the Department of State to strengthen diplomatic ef23 forts to resolve global conflicts and overcome bar24 riers to access for life-saving assistance; 


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1 (10) opportunities to support continued agricul2 tural production in Ukraine, and the extent to which 

3 food produced in Ukraine can be used to meet hu4 manitarian needs locally, regionally, or in countries 

5 historically reliant upon imports from Ukraine or 

6 Russia; and 

7 (11) opportunities to support and leverage agri8 cultural production in countries and regions cur9 rently supported by United States international agri10 cultural development programs, including programs 

11 authorized under the Global Food Security Act of 

12 2016 (22 U.S.C. 9301 et seq.), in a manner that— 

13 (A) fills critical gaps in the global supply 

14 of emergency food aid commodities; 

15 (B) enables purchases from small holder 

16 farmers by the United Nations World Food 

17 Programme; 

18 (C) enhances resilience to food price 

19 shocks; 

20 (D) promotes self-reliance; and 

21 (E) opens opportunities for United States 

22 agricultural trade and investment. 


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1 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY AUTHORITIES TO EXPAND THE TIME2 LINESS AND REACH OF UNITED STATES 

3 INTERNATIONAL FOOD ASSISTANCE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

5 section and notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

6 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter7 national Development is authorized to procure life-saving 

8 food aid commodities, including commodities available lo9 cally and regionally, for the provision of emergency food 

10 assistance to the most vulnerable populations in countries 

11 and areas experiencing acute food insecurity that has been 

12 exacerbated by rising food prices, particularly in countries 

13 and areas historically dependent upon imports of wheat 

14 and other staple commodities from Ukraine and Russia. 

15 (b) PRIORITIZATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In responding to crises in 

17 which emergency food aid commodities are unavail18 able locally or regionally, or in which the provision 

19 of locally or regionally procured agricultural com20 modities would be unsafe, impractical, or inappro21 priate, the Administrator should prioritize procure22 ments of United States agricultural commodities, in23 cluding when exercising authorities under section 

24 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

25 U.S.C. 2292). 


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1 (2) LOCAL OR REGIONAL PROCUREMENTS.—In 

2 making local or regional procurements of food aid 

3 commodities pursuant to subsection (a), the Admin4 istrator, to the extent practicable and appropriate, 

5 should prioritize procurements from areas supported 

6 through the international agricultural development 

7 programs authorized under the Global Food Security 

8 Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 9301 et seq.) and from 

9 Ukraine, for the purpose of promoting economic sta10 bility, resilience to price shocks, and early recovery 

11 from such shocks in such areas. 

12 (c) DO NO HARM.—In making local or regional pro13 curements of food aid commodities pursuant to subsection 

14 (a), the Administrator shall first conduct market assess15 ments to ensure that such procurements— 

16 (1) will not displace United States agricultural 

17 trade and investment; and 

18 (2) will not cause or exacerbate shortages, or 

19 otherwise harm local markets, for such commodities 

20 within the countries of origin. 

21 (d) EMERGENCY EXCEPTIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Commodities procured pur23 suant to subsection (b) shall be excluded from cal24 culations of gross tonnage for purposes of deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Mar 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436

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1 mining compliance with section 55305(b) of title 46, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 55305(b) of title 46, United States Code, is amend5 ed by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘should’’. 

6 (e) EXCLUSIONS.—The authority under subsection 

7 (a) shall not apply to procurements from— 

8 (1) the Russian Federation; 

9 (2) the People’s Republic of China; or 

10 (3) any country subject to sanctions under— 

11 (A) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

12 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

13 (B) section 40 of the Arms Export Control 

14 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

15 (C) section 1754(c) of the Export Control 

16 Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)). 

Æ 


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