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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

Relating to efforts to reduce hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. LEACH (for himself and Mr. PAYNE) submitted the following concurrent

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Relating to efforts to reduce hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

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 Resolution: A Decade of Concern for Afri6 ca’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Congress finds the following:

9 (1) Despite progress in recent years, sub-Saha10 ran Africa enters the new millennium with many of

11 the world’s poorest countries and is the one area of
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1 the world where hunger is both pervasive and in2 creasing.

3 (2) 33 of the world’s 41 poorest debtor coun4 tries are in sub-Saharan Africa, and approximately

5 291,000,000 individuals in sub-Saharan Africa,

6 nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population,

7 currently live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a

8 day.

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

10 is chronically undernourished, and the number of

11 chronically undernourished people in the region has

12 doubled in the past three decades. One child out of

13 every seven dies before his or her fifth birthday, and

14 one-half of these deaths are due to malnutrition.

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

16 world most affected by global infectious disease, ac17 counting for one-half of infectious disease-caused

18 deaths worldwide, according to a January 2000 re19 port by the Central Intelligence Agency. Deaths

20 from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and

21 several other diseases in sub-Saharan Africa exceed

22 those in all other regions.

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

24 of adults and 80 percent of children living with the

25 HIV virus, and to three-quarters of the people
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1 worldwide who have died of AIDS since the epidemic

2 began.

3 (6) According to the World Bank, the HIV/

4 AIDS pandemic has erased many of the development

5 gains of the past generation in sub-Saharan Africa

6 and now threatens to undermine economic and social

7 prospects for the next generation, with life expect8 ancy in parts of sub-Saharan Africa having already

9 decreased on average by 10-20 years as a result of

10 AIDS.

11 (7) Despite these development challenges, the

12 number of sub-Saharan African countries that are

13 moving toward open economies and more account14 able government has increased, and these countries

15 are together beginning to establish local solutions to

16 the problems of the region.

17 (8) To make lasting improvements in the lives

18 of their people, sub-Saharan African governments

19 need to be supported as they take meaningful steps

20 to reduce conflict, advance economic reform, stimu21 late growth, improve governance, and make essential

22 investments in people and infrastructure.

23 (9) Notwithstanding sub-Saharan Africa’s enor24 mous development challenges, United States compa25 nies hold approximately $15,000,000,000 in invest-
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1 ments in sub-Saharan Africa, greater than United

2 States investments in either the Middle East or

3 Eastern Europe, and total United States trade with

4 sub-Saharan Africa currently exceeds that with all of

5 the independent states of the former Soviet Union,

6 including the Russian Federation. This economic re7 lationship could be put at risk without greater atten8 tion to growth and poverty-focused development in

9 sub-Saharan Africa.

10 (10) Bread for the World Institute calculates

11 that the goal of reducing world hunger in one-half

12 not later than 2015 is achievable through an in13 crease of $4,000,000,000 in annual funding for ef14 fective, poverty-focused development from all donors.

15 If the United States were to shoulder one-fourth of

16 the aid burden—approximately $1,000,000,000 a

17 year—the obligation of America would amount to a

18 penny per day per citizen.

19 (11) According to a recent nationwide poll by

20 the Program on International Policy Attitudes, 83

21 percent of Americans think that the United States

22 should be willing to commit to a joint plan for cut23 ting world hunger by one-half by the year 2015.
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1 (12) Sustainable development and poverty re2 duction in sub-Saharan Africa cannot occur without

3 additional public and private sector investment.

4 (13) Failure to effectively address sub-Saharan

5 Africa’s crisis of development could result in height6 ened instability on the continent, greater political

7 conflict, and increased poverty, increasing the pros8 pect of humanitarian intervention and potentially

9 threatening a wide range of United States interests.

10 (14) Efforts to reduce hunger and poverty

11 should begin in sub-Saharan Africa, where condi12 tions are both widespread and increasing. The right

13 to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should

14 not be denied to people simply because they live on

15 an impoverished continent.

16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

17 It is the sense of Congress that—

18 (1) a moral people cannot tolerate the existence

19 of hunger, poverty, and disease in any part of the

20 world;

21 (2) the United States should declare A Decade

22 of Concern for Africa and commit to increased levels

23 of effective, poverty-focused development assistance

24 to sub-Saharan Africa until significant progress is
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1 made toward reversing current levels of hunger and

2 poverty;

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

4 other advanced industrial countries and sub-Saharan

5 African countries, and with United States and sub6 Sharan African private voluntary organizations and

7 other civic organizations, to increase development as8 sistance for sub-Saharan Africa and ensure that

9 such assistance is used effectively to reduce hunger

10 and poverty;

11 (4) Congress should undertake a multi-year

12 commitment with other donors to provide the re13 sources necessary to cut hunger by one-half in sub14 Saharan Africa, with funding directed toward—

15 (A) health, including efforts to prevent,

16 treat, and control HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and

17 malaria, and promote maternal health and child

18 survival;

19 (B) education, with an emphasis on equal

20 access to learning for girls and women;

21 (C) agriculture, food systems, infrastruc22 ture and rural development;

23 (D) micro-finance development; and

24 (E) bilateral and multilateral debt relief

25 that enables sub-Saharan African countries to
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1 invest in poverty-focused development, and

2 strengthens and expands democratic participa3 tion, free markets, trade, and investment;

4 (5) such funding should support both bilateral

5 and multilateral poverty-focused development efforts

6 in sub-Saharan Africa, including efforts by non7 governmental and private voluntary organizations,

8 including faith-based institutions; and

9 (6) the Administrator of the United States

10 Agency for International Development, in consulta11 tion with the heads of other appropriate agencies,

12 should annually prepare and submit to Congress a

13 report on the progress achieved in the implementa14 tion of paragraphs (3) and (4).

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