III

Calendar No. 262

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 6, 2001

Received and placed on the calendar

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Encouraging the development of strategies to reduce hunger

and poverty, and to promote free market economies and

democratic institutions, in sub-Saharan Africa.

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),
2

HCON 102 PCS

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Hun5 ger to Harvest: Decade of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa

6 Resolution’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Congress finds the following:

9 (1) Despite some progress in recent years, sub10 Saharan Africa enters the new millennium with

11 many of the world’s poorest countries and is the one

12 region of the world where hunger is both pervasive

13 and increasing.

14 (2) Thirty-three of the world’s 41 poorest debt15 or countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and an esti16 mated 291,000,000 people, nearly one-half of sub17 Saharan Africa’s total population, currently live in

18 extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.

19 (3) One in three people in sub-Saharan Africa

20 is chronically undernourished, double the number of

21 three decades ago. One child out of seven dies before

22 the age of five, and one-half of these deaths are due

23 to malnutrition.

24 (4) Sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the

25 world most affected by infectious disease, accounting
3

HCON 102 PCS

1 for one-half of the deaths worldwide from HIV/

2 AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and several

3 other diseases.

4 (5) Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70 percent

5 of adults, and 80 percent of children, living with the

6 HIV virus, and 75 percent of the people worldwide

7 who have died of AIDS lived in Africa.

8 (6) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has erased many

9 of the development gains of the past generation in

10 sub-Saharan Africa and now threatens to undermine

11 economic and social progress for the next genera12 tion, with life expectancy in parts of sub-Saharan

13 Africa having already decreased by 10–20 years as

14 a result of AIDS.

15 (7) Despite these immense challenges, the num16 ber of sub-Saharan African countries that are mov17 ing toward open economies and more accountable

18 governments has increased, and these countries are

19 beginning to achieve local solutions to their common

20 problems.

21 (8) To make lasting improvements in the lives

22 of their people, sub-Saharan Africa governments

23 need support as they act to solve conflicts, make

24 critical investments in human capacity and infra25 structure, combat corruption, reform their econo-
4

HCON 102 PCS

1 mies, stimulate trade and equitable economic

2 growth, and build democracy.

3 (9) Despite sub-Saharan Africa’s enormous de4 velopment challenges, United States companies hold

5 approximately $12,800,000,000 in investments in

6 sub-Saharan Africa, greater than United States in7 vestments in either the Middle East or Eastern Eu8 rope, and total United States trade with sub-Saha9 ran Africa currently exceeds that with all of the

10 independent states of the former Soviet Union, in11 cluding the Russian Federation. This economic rela12 tionship could be put at risk unless additional public

13 and private resources are provided to combat poverty

14 and promote equitable economic growth in sub-Saha15 ran Africa.

16 (10) Bread for the World Institute calculates

17 that the goal of reducing world hunger by one-half

18 by 2015 is achievable through an increase of

19 $4,000,000,000 in annual funding from all donors

20 for poverty-focused development. If the United

21 States were to shoulder one-fourth of this aid bur22 den—approximately $1,000,000,000 a year—the

23 cost to each United States citizen would be one

24 penny per day.
5

HCON 102 PCS

1 (11) Failure to effectively address sub-Saharan

2 Africa’s development needs could result in greater

3 conflict and increased poverty, heightening the pros4 pect of humanitarian intervention and potentially

5 threatening a wide range of United States interests

6 in sub-Saharan Africa.

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

8 It is the sense of Congress that—

9 (1) the United States should declare ‘‘A Decade

10 of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa’’;

11 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of

12 adoption of this concurrent resolution, the President

13 should submit a report to Congress setting forth a

14 five-year strategy, and a ten-year strategy, to

15 achieve a reversal of current levels of hunger and

16 poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, including a commit17 ment to contribute an appropriate United States

18 share of increased bilateral and multilateral poverty19 focused resources for sub-Saharan Africa, with an

20 emphasis on—

21 (A) health, including efforts to prevent,

22 treat, and control HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, ma23 laria, and other diseases that contribute to mal24 nutrition and hunger, and to promote maternal

25 health and child survival;
6

HCON 102 PCS

1 (B) education, with an emphasis on equal

2 access to learning for girls and women;

3 (C) agriculture, including strengthening

4 subsistence agriculture as well as the ability to

5 compete in global agricultural markets, and in6 vestment in infrastructure and rural develop7 ment;

8 (D) private sector and free market develop9 ment, to bring sub-Saharan Africa into the

10 global economy, enable people to purchase food,

11 and make health and education investments

12 sustainable;

13 (E) democratic institutions and the rule of

14 law, including strengthening civil society and

15 independent judiciaries;

16 (F) micro-finance development; and

17 (G) debt relief that provides incentives for

18 sub-Saharan African countries to invest in pov19 erty-focused development, and to expand demo20 cratic participation, free markets, trade, and in21 vestment;

22 (3) the President should work with the heads of

23 other donor countries and sub-Saharan African

24 countries, and with United States and sub-Saharan

25 African private and voluntary organizations and
7

HCON 102 PCS

1 other civic organizations, including faith-based orga2 nizations, to implement the strategies described in

3 paragraph (2);

4 (4) Congress should undertake a multi-year

5 commitment to provide the resources to implement

6 those strategies; and

7 (5) 120 days after the date of adoption of this

8 concurrent resolution, and every year thereafter, the

9 Administrator of the United States Agency for

10 International Development, in consultation with the

11 heads of other appropriate Federal departments and

12 agencies, should submit to Congress a report on the

13 implementation of those strategies, including the ac14 tion taken under paragraph (3), describing—

15 (A) the results of the implementation of

16 those strategies as of the date of the report, in17 cluding the progress made and any setbacks

18 suffered;

19 (B) impediments to, and opportunities for,

20 future progress;

21 (C) proposed changes to those strategies, if

22 any; and

23 (D) the role and extent of cooperation of

24 the governments of sub-Saharan countries and

25 other donors, both public and private, in com-
8

HCON 102 PCS

1 bating poverty and promoting equitable eco2 nomic development.

Passed the House of Representatives December 5,

2001.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.

Calendar No. 262

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Encouraging the development of strategies to reduce hunger and poverty, and to promote free

market economies and democratic institutions, insub-Saharan Africa.

DECEMBER 6, 2001

Received and placed on the calendar