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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 390 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 390

 To authorize emergency supplemental assistance to combat the growing 
               humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2003

Ms. Waters (for herself, Mr. Payne, Mr. Lantos, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Rangel, 
 Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Cummings, and Ms. Lee) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To authorize emergency supplemental assistance to combat the growing 
               humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Africa Famine Relief Act of 2003''.

           TITLE I--EMERGENCY FOOD AID TO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The National Security Strategy of the United States, 
        dated September 17, 2002, concludes that ``[i]n Africa, promise 
        and opportunity sit side-by-side with disease, war, and 
        desperate poverty. This threatens both a core value of the 
        United States preserving human dignity and our strategic 
        priority combating global terror. American interests and 
        American principles, therefore, lead in the same direction: we 
        will work with others for an African continent that lives in 
        liberty, peace, and growing prosperity.''.
            (2) On March 19, 2002, the Director of the Central 
        Intelligence Agency testified that ``[t]he chronic problems of 
        sub-Saharan Africa make it, too, fertile ground for direct and 
        indirect threats to United States interests. Governments 
        without accountability and natural disasters have left Africa 
        with the highest concentration of human misery in the world''.
            (3) The United Nations World Food Programme reports that 
        there is an unprecedented hunger crisis on the African 
        continent where approximately 38,000,000 people face 
        starvation.
            (4) The scale of the humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan 
        Africa has grown dramatically and there has been an average 
        increase of 30 percent in commodity prices since the President 
        submitted a budget request for food aid and other humanitarian 
        assistance for fiscal year 2003.
            (5) A trip report prepared by a congressional delegation 
        that traveled to Ethiopia and Eritrea from December 29, 2002 to 
        January 4, 2003 stated that ``the U.S. Government will need to 
        do more to avert a disaster of biblical proportions . . . 
        Donors, including the United States, must make prompt and 
        significant food-aid pledges to help Ethiopia overcome its 
        current crisis.''.
            (6) At a United Nations Security Council meeting on March 
        12, 2002, concerning the food crisis in Africa, the United 
        States representative stated that adequate levels of assistance 
        must be provided immediately to avert disaster in sub-Saharan 
        Africa.
            (7) On December 6, 2002, the United States Agency for 
        International Development reported that ``[a] number of 
        Southern African countries are currently experiencing food 
        security crises, due to a combination of adverse climate 
conditions for two consecutive growing seasons, mismanagement of grain 
reserves, and restrictive government policies that severely inhibit 
private sector commerce''.
            (8) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports 
        that the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, affecting 29,400,000 
        people, has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by reducing 
        agricultural productivity and food security, undercutting 
        people's ability to recover and contributing to long-term 
        poverty.
            (9) The HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, which 
        strikes at working adults involved in agricultural production, 
        is a major component of this crisis.

SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) effectively addressing the famine in sub-Saharan Africa 
        is in the national security interests of the United States;
            (2) the President should immediately submit a request for 
        emergency supplemental appropriations to Congress for food aid 
        and other humanitarian assistance to reach vulnerable 
        populations living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa;
            (3) the President should immediately consult with the 
        chairmen and ranking members of the Committee on Agriculture, 
        Nutrition, and Forestry, the Committee on Appropriations, and 
        the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Appropriations, and 
        the Committee on International Relations of the House of 
        Representatives to formulate a legislative strategy to address 
        the immediate and long-term needs caused by the humanitarian 
        crisis in sub-Saharan Africa; and
            (4) the United States should engage in direct talks with 
        members of the European Union and other appropriate nations to 
        increase the amount of contributions from other nations to sub-
        Saharan Africa.

SEC. 103. EMERGENCY FOOD AID.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--In addition to amounts otherwise available 
        for such purposes, there is authorized to be appropriated 
        $600,000,000 for purposes of the emergency assistance program 
        under title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and 
        Assistance Act of 1954.
            (2) Availability of funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant 
        to paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until 
        expended.
    (b) Uses of Assistance.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall be used to provide humanitarian assistance for 
sub-Saharan Africa.
    (c) Emergency Designation.--The entire amount authorized to be 
appropriated under subsection (a) is designated by Congress as an 
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

SEC. 104. STRATEGY ON FOOD AID, HUMANITARIAN NEEDS, AND NATIONAL 
              SECURITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
President shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations, the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations, 
the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on International 
Relations of the House of Representatives a report setting forth--
            (1) a strategy for meeting the immediate humanitarian needs 
        in sub-Saharan Africa;
            (2) an assessment of how a failure to meet these needs 
        would impact United States national security interests in the 
        region;
            (3) a description of how additional food aid will be 
        provided in coordination with other forms of assistance, 
        particularly agricultural development, food aid for development 
        purposes, and HIV/AIDS programs;
            (4) a description of how additional food aid and other 
        forms of assistance will be provided in consultation and 
        coordination with nongovernmental organizations;
            (5) the number of people at risk of immediate starvation in 
        sub-Saharan Africa, the number of metric tons of food needed to 
        prevent widespread starvation in the region and address 
        deteriorating malnutrition rates, and the minimum costs of 
        buying and delivering the aforementioned commodities; and
            (6) the amount of funds committed by the United States and 
        other donors for the purchase of food in fiscal years 2002, 
        2003, and 2004 to meet emergency needs in sub-Saharan Africa, 
        and the anticipated shortfall in funding, if any.

SEC. 105. COORDINATION OF FOOD AID AND OTHER HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--The President in consultation with the Secretary 
of Agriculture, the Secretary of State, and the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development, is strongly urged 
to establish a task force responsible for--
            (1) designing a comprehensive strategy to deal with the 
        immediate needs of the humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan 
        Africa and addressing the long-term causes of food insecurity 
        in the region, including corruption within certain governments 
        of sub-Saharan Africa;
            (2) ensuring program and policy coordination among agencies 
        of the United States Government, other nations, international 
        organizations, and non-governmental organizations in carrying 
        out the policies set forth in this Act;
            (3) ensuring that the distribution of humanitarian 
        assistance provided in response to the current crisis is not 
        manipulated or politicized within the recipient countries; and
            (4) maintaining proper management, implementation, and 
        oversight by agencies responsible for executing programs 
        authorized in this Act.
    (b) Consultation.--In establishing the task force, the President 
should consult with the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, 
the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and 
the chairmen and ranking members of the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate and the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on 
International Relations of the House of Representatives.
    (c) Date.--The task force called for in subsection (a) should be 
established not later than 60 days after the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 106. INCREASING FOOD AID CONTRIBUTIONS AND OTHER HUMANITARIAN 
              ASSISTANCE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

    The President shall instruct the United States permanent 
representative or executive director, as the case may be, to the United 
Nations, the World Food Programme, international financial 
institutions, and other appropriate international organizations to use 
the voice and vote of the United States to support additional food aid 
and other humanitarian assistance for sub-Saharan
Africa.

                  TITLE II--OTHER EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

SEC. 201 INTERNATIONAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the President $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, for purposes 
        of section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for 
        relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance for sub-
        Saharan Africa.
            (2) Availability of funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant 
        to paragraph (1) are in addition to amounts otherwise available 
        for such purposes and are authorized to remain available until 
        expended.
    (b) Emergency Designation.--The entire amount authorized under 
subsection (a) is designated by Congress as an emergency requirement 
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act of 1985.

SEC. 202. EMERGENCY HIV/AIDS FAMILY SURVIVAL PARTNERSHIPS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services $100,000,000 
to carry out subsections (b) and (c) in sub-Saharan Africa.
    (b) Grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
and in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development, is authorized to award grants to 
eligible administrative organizations to award subgrants to 
nongovernmental organizations to expand activities to prevent the 
mother-to-child transmission of HIV by providing treatment, medical 
care, and support services to HIV infected parents and their children.
    (c) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until expended.
    (d) Emergency Designation.--The entire amount authorized to be 
appropriated under subsection (a) is designated by Congress as an 
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

                      TITLE III--OTHER PROVISIONS

SEC. 301. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``sub-Saharan Africa'' has the meaning given 
the term in section 107 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 
U.S.C. 3706).
                                 <all>
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