109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1120

AN ACT

To reduce hunger in the United States, and for other

purposes.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Hunger-Free Communities Act of 2006’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I—NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO END HUNGER

Sec. 101. Hunger reports.

TITLE II—STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY EFFORTS

Sec. 201. Hunger-free communities collaborative grants.

Sec. 202. Hunger-free communities training and technical assistance grants.

Sec. 203. Report.

TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 301. Authorization of appropriations.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1)(A) at the 1996 World Food Summit, the

6 United States, along with 185 other countries,

7 pledged to reduce the number of undernourished

8 people by half by 2015; and

9 (B) as a result of this pledge, the Department

10 of Health and Human Services adopted the Healthy

11 People 2010 goal to cut food insecurity in half by

12 2010, and in doing so reduce hunger;

13 (2)(A) national nutrition programs are among

14 the fastest, most direct ways to efficiently and effec15 tively prevent hunger, reduce food insecurity, and

16 improve nutrition among the populations targeted by

17 a program;
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1 (3) in 2001, food banks, food pantries, soup

2 kitchens, and emergency shelters helped to feed

3 more than 23,000,000 low-income people; and

4 (4) community-based organizations and char5 ities can help—

6 (A) play an important role in preventing

7 and reducing hunger;

8 (B) measure community food security;

9 (C) develop and implement plans for im10 proving food security;

11 (D) educate community leaders about the

12 problems of and solutions to hunger;

13 (E) ensure that local nutrition programs

14 are implemented effectively; and

15 (F) improve the connection of food inse16 cure people to anti-hunger programs.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) DOMESTIC HUNGER GOAL.—The term ‘‘do20 mestic hunger goal’’ means—

21 (A) the goal of reducing hunger in the

22 United States to at or below 2 percent by 2010;

23 or
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1 (B) the goal of reducing food insecurity in

2 the United States to at or below 6 percent by

3 2010.

4 (2) EMERGENCY FEEDING ORGANIZATION.—

5 The term ‘‘emergency feeding organization’’ has the

6 meaning given the term in section 201A of the

7 Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C.

8 7501).

9 (3) FOOD SECURITY.—The term ‘‘food secu10 rity’’ means the state in which an individual has ac11 cess to enough food for an active, healthy life.

12 (4) HUNGER-FREE COMMUNITIES GOAL.—The

13 term ‘‘hunger-free communities goal’’ means any of

14 the 14 goals described in the H. Con. Res. 302

15 (102nd Congress).

16 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

17 the Secretary of Agriculture.

18 TITLE I—NATIONAL

19 COMMITMENT TO END HUNGER

20 SEC. 101. HUNGER REPORTS.

21 (a) STUDY.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct

23 a study not later than 1 year after the date of enact24 ment of this Act, and an update of the study not

25 later than 5 years thereafter, of major matters relat-
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1 ing to the problem of hunger in the United States,

2 as determined by the Secretary.

3 (2) MATTERS TO BE ASSESSED.—The matters

4 to be assessed by the Secretary shall include—

5 (A) data on hunger and food insecurity in

6 the United States;

7 (B) measures carried out during the pre8 vious year by Federal, State, and local govern9 ments to achieve domestic hunger goals and

10 hunger-free communities goals; and

11 (C) measures that could be carried out by

12 Federal, State, and local governments to

13 achieve domestic hunger goals and hunger-free

14 communities goals.

15 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall de16 velop recommendations on—

17 (1) removing obstacles to achieving domestic

18 hunger goals and hunger-free communities goals;

19 and

20 (2) otherwise reducing domestic hunger.

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

22 of enactment of this Act, and 5 years thereafter, the Sec23 retary shall submit to the President and Congress a report

24 that contains—
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1 (1) a detailed statement of the results of the

2 study, or the most recent update to the study, con3 ducted under subsection (a); and

4 (2) the most recent recommendations of the

5 Secretary under subsection (b).

6 TITLE II—STRENGTHENING

7 COMMUNITY EFFORTS

8 SEC. 201. HUNGER-FREE COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE

9 GRANTS.

10 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec11 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a public food pro12 gram service provider or a nonprofit organization, includ13 ing but not limited to an emergency feeding organization,

14 that demonstrates the organization has collaborated, or

15 will collaborate, with 1 or more local partner organizations

16 to achieve at least 1 hunger-free communities goal.

17 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not

19 more than 90 percent of any funds made available

20 under title III to make grants to eligible entities to

21 pay the Federal share of the costs of an activity de22 scribed in subsection (d).

23 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of

24 the cost of carrying out an activity under this sec25 tion shall not exceed 80 percent.
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1 (3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

2 (A) CALCULATION.—The non-Federal

3 share of the cost of an activity under this sec4 tion may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly

5 evaluated, including facilities, equipment, or

6 services.

7 (B) SOURCES.—Any entity may provide

8 the non-Federal share of the cost of an activity

9 under this section through a State government,

10 a local government, or a private source.

11 (c) APPLICATION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under

13 this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli14 cation to the Secretary at the time and in the man15 ner and accompanied by any information the Sec16 retary may require.

17 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

18 under paragraph (1) shall—

19 (A) identify any activity described in sub20 section (d) that the grant will be used to fund;

21 (B) describe the means by which an activ22 ity identified under subparagraph (A) will re23 duce hunger in the community of the eligible

24 entity;
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1 (C) list any partner organizations of the el2 igible entity that will participate in an activity

3 funded by the grant;

4 (D) describe any agreement between a

5 partner organization and the eligible entity nec6 essary to carry out an activity funded by the

7 grant; and

8 (E) if an assessment described in sub9 section (d)(1) has been performed, include—

10 (i) a summary of that assessment;

11 and

12 (ii) information regarding the means

13 by which the grant will help reduce hunger

14 in the community of the eligible entity.

15 (3) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this

16 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible

17 entities that—

18 (A) demonstrate in the application of the

19 eligible entity that the eligible entity makes col20 laborative efforts to reduce hunger in the com21 munity of the eligible entity; and

22 (B)(i) serve a predominantly rural and

23 geographically underserved area;

24 (ii) serve communities in which the rates of

25 food insecurity, hunger, poverty, or unemploy-
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1 ment are demonstrably higher than national av2 erage rates;

3 (iii) provide evidence of long-term efforts

4 to reduce hunger in the community;

5 (iv) provide evidence of public support for

6 the efforts of the eligible entity; or

7 (v) demonstrate in the application of the

8 eligible entity a commitment to achieving more

9 than 1 hunger-free communities goal.

10 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—

11 (1) ASSESSMENT OF HUNGER IN THE COMMU12 NITY.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity in a

14 community that has not performed an assess15 ment described in subparagraph (B) may use a

16 grant received under this section to perform the

17 assessment for the community.

18 (B) ASSESSMENT.—The assessment re19 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall include—

20 (i) an analysis of the problem of hun21 ger in the community served by the eligible

22 entity;

23 (ii) an evaluation of any facility and

24 any equipment used to achieve a hunger25 free communities goal in the community;
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1 (iii) an analysis of the effectiveness

2 and extent of service of existing nutrition

3 programs and emergency feeding organiza4 tions; and

5 (iv) a plan to achieve any other hun6 ger-free communities goal in the commu7 nity.

8 (2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity in a com9 munity that has submitted an assessment to the

10 Secretary shall use a grant received under this sec11 tion for any fiscal year for activities of the eligible

12 entity, including—

13 (A) meeting the immediate needs of people

14 in the community served by the eligible entity

15 who experience hunger by—

16 (i) distributing food;

17 (ii) providing community outreach; or

18 (iii) improving access to food as part

19 of a comprehensive service;

20 (B) developing new resources and strate21 gies to help reduce hunger in the community;

22 (C) establishing a program to achieve a

23 hunger-free communities goal in the commu24 nity, including—
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1 (i) a program to prevent, monitor, and

2 treat children in the community experi3 encing hunger or poor nutrition; or

4 (ii) a program to provide information

5 to people in the community on hunger, do6 mestic hunger goals, and hunger-free com7 munities goals; and

8 (D) establishing a program to provide food

9 and nutrition services as part of a coordinated

10 community-based comprehensive service.

11 SEC. 202. HUNGER-FREE COMMUNITIES TRAINING AND

12 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

13 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec14 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a national or re15 gional nonprofit organization that carries out an activity

16 described in subsection (d).

17 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not

19 more than 10 percent of any funds made available

20 under title III to make grants to eligible entities to

21 pay the Federal share of the costs of an activity de22 scribed in subsection (d).

23 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of

24 the cost of carrying out an activity under this sec25 tion shall not exceed 80 percent.
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1 (c) APPLICATION.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under

3 this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli4 cation to the Secretary at the time and in the man5 ner and accompanied by any information the Sec6 retary may require.

7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

8 under paragraph (1) shall—

9 (A) demonstrate that the eligible entity

10 does not operate for profit;

11 (B) describe any national or regional train12 ing program carried out by the eligible entity,

13 including a description of each region served by

14 the eligible entity;

15 (C) describe any national or regional tech16 nical assistance provided by the eligible entity,

17 including a description of each region served by

18 the eligible entity; and

19 (D) describe the means by which each or20 ganization served by the eligible entity—

21 (i) works to achieve a domestic hun22 ger goal;

23 (ii) works to achieve a hunger-free

24 communities goal; or
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1 (iii) used a grant received by the orga2 nization under section 201.

3 (3) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this

4 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible

5 entities the applications of which demonstrate 2 or

6 more of the following:

7 (A) The eligible entity serves a predomi8 nantly rural and geographically underserved

9 area.

10 (B) The eligible entity serves a region in

11 which the rates of food insecurity, hunger, pov12 erty, or unemployment are demonstrably higher

13 than national average rates.

14 (C) The eligible entity serves a region that

15 has carried out long-term efforts to reduce hun16 ger in the region.

17 (D) The eligible entity serves a region that

18 provides public support for the efforts of the el19 igible entity.

20 (E) The eligible entity is committed to

21 achieving more than 1 hunger-free communities

22 goal.

23 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall use a

24 grant received under this section for any fiscal year to
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1 carry out national or regional training and technical as2 sistance for organizations that—

3 (1) work to achieve a domestic hunger goal;

4 (2) work to achieve a hunger-free communities

5 goal; or

6 (3) receive a grant under section 201.

7 SEC. 203. REPORT.

8 Not later than September 30, 2011, the Secretary

9 shall submit to Congress a report describing—

10 (1) each grant made under this title,

11 including—

12 (A) a description of any activity funded by

13 such a grant; and

14 (B) the degree of success of each activity

15 funded by such a grant in achieving hunger-free

16 communities goals; and

17 (2) the degree of success of all activities funded

18 by grants under this title in achieving domestic hun19 ger goals.
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1 TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF

2 APPROPRIATIONS

3 SEC. 301. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 title II $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through

6 2011.

Passed the Senate December 8, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1120

AN ACT

To reduce hunger in the United States, and for

other purposes.