I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6203 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Emergency Food 

Assistance Act of 1983 to make commodities available for the Emergency 

Food Assistance Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Ms. SALINAS (for herself, Mr. PANETTA, and Ms. CROCKETT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the 

Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to make commodities available for the Emergency Food Assistance 

Program, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farmers Feeding 

5 America Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF COMMODITIES FOR THE EMER2 GENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 Section 27(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

4 (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘2023’’ each place it appears 

6 (except in paragraph (2)(D)(ix)) and inserting 

7 ‘‘2028’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (D)— 

10 (i) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

11 at the end; and 

12 (ii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(x) for each of fiscal years 2024 

15 through 2028, $500,000,000; and’’; and 

16 (B) in subparagraph (E)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘2024’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘2029’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘specified in subpara20 graph (D)(ix)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in 

21 subparagraph (D)(x)’’. 

22 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM STORAGE AND DIS23 TRIBUTION. 

24 Section 204(a)(1) of the Emergency Food Assistance 

25 Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7508(a)(1)) is amended, in the first 


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1 sentence, by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$200,000,000’’. 

3 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM INFRASTRUCTURE 

4 GRANTS. 

5 Section 209(d) of the Emergency Food Assistance 

6 Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7511a(d)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

8 SEC. 5. GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED STATES. 

9 Section 214 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act 

10 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7515) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY OPTIONS FOR

14 GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED STATES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF GEOGRAPHICALLY

16 ISOLATED STATE.—In this paragraph, the term 

17 ‘geographically isolated State’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) the State of Hawaii; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the State of Alaska; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the Commonwealth of Puerto 

21 Rico; 

22 ‘‘(iv) the Commonwealth of the North23 ern Mariana Islands; 

24 ‘‘(v) the Virgin Islands of the United 

25 States; and 


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1 ‘‘(vi) Guam. 

2 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY OPTIONS.— 

3 At the request of a geographically isolated 

4 State, the Secretary shall coordinate with the 

5 geographically isolated State— 

6 ‘‘(i) to establish alternative delivery 

7 options for commodities allocated to that 

8 geographically isolated State under this 

9 section to ensure that the geographically 

10 isolated State is able to receive those com11 modities; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) to allow for the geographically 

13 isolated State to order commodities 

14 through the Department of Defense Fresh 

15 Fruit and Vegetable Program. 

16 ‘‘(C) DIRECT PURCHASE OPTION.—The 

17 Secretary may transfer to a geographically iso18 lated State the cash value of not more than 20 

19 percent of the commodities allocated to that 

20 geographically isolated State under this section 

21 to be used by the geographically isolated State 

22 to procure domestically grown food in lieu of re23 ceipt of those commodities.’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(e) FRESH PRODUCE PACKAGES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In purchasing fresh 

2 produce packages to provide under the program es3 tablished under this Act, the Secretary may consider 

4 additional factors beyond lowest price in determining 

5 winning bids for contracts for those fresh produce 

6 packages, including product variety and transpor7 tation distance. 

8 ‘‘(2) NUTRITION.—The Secretary shall carry 

9 out paragraph (1) in a manner that maintains the 

10 goal of maximizing the amount of nutritious food 

11 available through the program described in that 

12 paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


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