III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 37 

Declaring a state of emergency due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 

in order to establish a waiver of the minimum tonnage requirements 

of section 55305 of title 46, United States Code. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2022 

Ms. ERNST submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Declaring a state of emergency due to the Russian invasion 

of Ukraine, in order to establish a waiver of the minimum tonnage requirements of section 55305 of title 

46, United States Code. 

Whereas, in March and April 2014, the Russian military invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, 

and the Russian Federation took action to establish proRussian separatist states in the Donbas region of 

Ukraine; 

Whereas, the Russian Federation has failed to follow the 

cease-fire agreements established by the Minsk 1 and 

Minsk 2 accords, and conflict has been present in 

Ukraine since such invasion and annexation; 


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Whereas, throughout 2021, Russia amassed troops, weapon 

systems, and hardware on the border of Russia and 

Ukraine; 

Whereas, on December 17, 2021, the Russian Federation 

presented the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NATO’’) with a list of security demands, including that NATO would never allow 

Ukraine, or other former Soviet states, into the alliance; 

Whereas such demands are non-starters for NATO and its 

‘‘open door policy’’, which dates to the alliance’s founding 

and gives no third party a say in such deliberations, and 

such demands were only offered as a justification for a 

Russian invasion; 

Whereas, on February 21, 2022, President Vladimir Putin 

officially recognized the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk 

as independent states despite international consensus 

that those regions remain part of the sovereign territory 

of Ukraine; 

Whereas, on February 22, 2022, President Putin ordered 

Russian troops to enter Donetsk and Luhansk on a 

‘‘peacekeeping mission’’ while setting the stage for a larger invasion; 

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, President Putin ordered 

Russian forces to conduct a full-scale invasion, moving 

beyond the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and initiating attacks throughout broader Ukrainian territory; 

Whereas Russian forces continue to devastate Ukraine’s hospitals, schools, homes, and other civilian infrastructure, 

and threaten nuclear power plants with heavy artillery, 

multi-launch rocket systems, and munitions systems, with 

no regard for civilian casualties; 


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Whereas, an October 19, 2017, Government Accountability 

Office Report stated that a ‘‘2015 analysis of agency 

data found that the application of CPFA requirements 

increased United States Agency for International Development’s and United States Department of Agriculture’s 

costs for shipping food aid by about 23 percent, or $107 

million, compared with the estimated shipping costs without application of CPFA requirements, from April 2011 

through fiscal year 2014.’’; 

Whereas, in a United States Agency for International Development fact sheet titled: ‘‘Food Aid Reform: Behind the 

Numbers’’, the United States Agency for International 

Development stated that eliminating the mandatory cargo 

preference reimbursements will reduce the deficit by an 

estimated $50,000,000 per year; 

Whereas, in March 2020, the American Enterprise Institute 

published a report titled ‘‘The Cost of Cargo Preferences 

for International Food Aid Programs’’, which— 

(1) found ‘‘that removing cargo preference requirements would allow for between $36 and $64 million of already appropriated funds to go to feeding the hungry and 

would benefit U.S. soft power globally’’; 

(2) stated that ‘‘Owners of U.S.-flagged vessels do 

not just charge higher freight rates for emergency aid 

shipments. They also use older, slower, and less efficient 

ships that take more time to complete their journeys, 

adding significantly to delays in the delivery of urgently 

needed resources to populations at risk of malnutrition.’’; 

and 

(3) concluded that ‘‘cargo preference for food aid 

imposes substantial costs of USAID’s Title II program 

budget. . . . The impacts are substantial, reducing the 


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funds available for additional food aid programs by 

$52.83 million a year.’’; 

Whereas, in a March 25, 2022, information note titled ‘‘The 

importance of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for 

global agricultural markets and the risks associated with 

the current conflict’’, the Food and Agriculture Organization (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘FAO’’) of the 

United Nations stated that— 

(1) the invasion of Ukraine could raise food prices 

‘‘by 8 to 22 percent above their already elevated baseline 

levels’’; 

(2) ‘‘current indications are that, as a result of the 

conflict, between 20 and 30 percent of areas sown to winter crops in Ukraine will remain unharvested during the 

2022/23 season, with the yields of these crops also likely 

to be adversely affected’’; and 

(3) ‘‘FAO’s simulations suggest that under such a 

scenario, the global number of undernourished people 

could increase by 8 to 13 million people in 2022/23, with 

the most pronounced increases taking place in Asia-Pacific, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, and the Near East 

and North Africa.’’; 

Whereas, on April 8, 2022, the Associated Press published 

that ‘‘The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said 

its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in 

international prices for a basket of commodities, averaged 

159.3 points last month, up 12.6% from February’’, and 

that ‘‘As it is, the February index was the highest level 

since its inception in 1990.’’; 

Whereas, on April 27, 2022, the United States Agency for 

International Development said in a press release that 

‘‘The world is suffering from historic levels of global food 


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insecurity, which is being exacerbated by the impact Russia’s war on Ukraine is having on global food supplies. 

Available estimates suggest that an additional 40 million 

people could be pushed into poverty and food insecurity 

as a result of Russia’s aggression.’’; 

Whereas, on April 27, 2022, the Administrator of the United 

States Agency for International Development, Samantha 

Power, said that ‘‘In Ukraine, which provides 10 percent 

of the world’s wheat, farmers are struggling to plant and 

harvest their crops for fear of shelling and Russian landmines, and their path to exporting these vital commodities is severely restricted by Russia’s invasion, which 

caused the closure of Ukraine’s ports.’’; and 

Whereas, on April 27, 2022, Secretary of Agriculture Tom 

Vilsack, said that ‘‘Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, 

a fellow major agricultural export country, is driving food 

and energy costs higher for people around the world.’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That— 

3 (1) a state of emergency exists due to the Rus4 sian invasion of Ukraine; 

5 (2) such state of emergency justifies a waiver of 

6 the minimum tonnage requirements that apply to 

7 cargoes procured, furnished, or financed by the 

8 United States Government, in accordance with sec9 tion 55305(c) of title 46, United States Code; and 


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1 (3) the heads of the appropriate agencies shall 

2 be notified of such waiver. 

Æ 


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