IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1079 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive, strategic plan to control locust outbreaks in 

the East Africa region and address future outbreaks 

in order to avert mass scale food insecurity and potential 

political destabilization, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Desert Locust Control 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States to prioritize ef8 forts to control the ongoing desert locust outbreak in East 

9 Africa and other affected regions, mitigate the impacts on 

10 food security, economic productivity, and political sta11 bility, improve interagency coordination to prevent future 

12 outbreaks, and promote resilience in affected countries. 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds the following: 

15 (1) The United States Agency for International 

16 Development reports that countries in East Africa 

17 are currently suffering the worst desert locust out18 break in decades, which will devour crops and pas19 ture and destroy local livelihoods across the region. 

20 (2) As of December 2020, the Food and Agri21 culture Organization reported that there were 42 

22 million people experiencing acute food insecurity in 

23 East Africa, which numbers are projected to in24 crease if the desert locust outbreak is not controlled. 


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1 (3) The desert locust outbreak in East Africa, 

2 particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, is neg3 atively impacting food security, local livelihoods and 

4 economic productivity, and may threaten political 

5 stability in the region. 

6 (4) Proactive investments now to control the 

7 desert locust outbreak could reduce the need for a 

8 much larger United States humanitarian response 

9 effort later, as well as support economic and political 

10 stability and build resilience in affected countries. 

11 (5) In order to optimize the United States re12 sponse to the desert locust outbreak, an interagency 

13 working group should be established to develop and 

14 implement a comprehensive, strategic plan to control 

15 the desert locust outbreak in East Africa and other 

16 affected regions, mitigate impacts on food security, 

17 economic productivity, and political stability and 

18 prevent future outbreaks. 

19 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

21 an interagency working group to coordinate the United 

22 States response to the ongoing desert locust outbreak in 

23 East Africa and other affected regions, including the de24 velopment of a comprehensive, strategic plan to control the 

25 outbreak, mitigate the impacts on food security, economic 


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1 productivity, and political stability, and prevent future 

2 outbreaks. 

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The interagency working 

5 group shall be composed of the following: 

6 (A) Two representatives from the United 

7 States Agency for International Development. 

8 (B) One representative from each of the 

9 following: 

10 (i) The United States Mission to the 

11 United Nations Agencies for Food and Ag12 riculture. 

13 (ii) The National Security Council. 

14 (iii) The Department of State. 

15 (iv) The Department of Defense. 

16 (v) The Department of Agriculture. 

17 (vi) Any other relevant Federal de18 partment or agency. 

19 (2) CHAIR.—The President shall designate one 

20 of the representatives from the United States Agen21 cy for International Development described in para22 graph (1)(A) to serve as chair of the interagency 

23 working group. 

24 (c) DUTIES.—The interagency working group shall— 


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1 (1) assess the scope of the desert locust out2 break in East Africa and other affected regions, in3 cluding its impact on food security, economic pro4 ductivity, and political stability in affected countries; 

5 (2) assess the impacts of restrictions relating to 

6 the coronavirus disease 2019 (commonly referred to 

7 as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic on efforts to control the 

8 desert locust outbreak and mitigate its impacts and 

9 in exacerbating food insecurity; 

10 (3) monitor the effectiveness of ongoing assist11 ance efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 

12 and mitigate its impacts and identify gaps and op13 portunities for additional support to such programs; 

14 (4) review the effectiveness of regional and mul15 tilateral efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 

16 and the coordination among relevant United States 

17 Government agencies, regional governments, and 

18 international organizations, including the World 

19 Food Programme and the United Nations Food and 

20 Agriculture Organization; and 

21 (5) not later than 90 days after the establish22 ment of the interagency working group under sub23 section (a), develop and submit to the President and 

24 the appropriate congressional committees a comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079

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1 prehensive, strategic plan to control the desert locust 

2 outbreak, including a description of efforts to— 

3 (A) improve coordination among relevant 

4 United States Government agencies, regional 

5 governments, and international organizations, 

6 including the World Food Programme and the 

7 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza8 tion; 

9 (B) ensure delivery of necessary assets 

10 control the desert locust outbreak and humani11 tarian and development assistance to address 

12 and mitigate impacts to food security, economic 

13 productivity, and political stability; and 

14 (C) to the extent practicable, prevent and 

15 mitigate future desert locust and other, similar 

16 destructive insect outbreaks (such as Fall 

17 Armyworm) in Africa and other parts of the 

18 world, which require a humanitarian response. 

19 (d) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP SUPPORT.—The 

20 interagency working group shall continue to meet not less 

21 than semi-annually to facilitate implementation of the 

22 comprehensive, strategic plan required by subsection 

23 (c)(5). 

24 (e) SUNSET.—This Act shall terminate on the date 

25 that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, or at such time as there is no longer an upsurge in 

2 the desert locust outbreak in East Africa, whichever oc3 curs earlier. 

4 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE5 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres6 sional committees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

8 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep9 resentatives; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

11 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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