II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 525 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) 

to reform the Food for Peace Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. CORKER (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

2151 et seq.) to reform the Food for Peace 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 ‘‘Food for Peace Reform 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FOOD FOR PEACE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of chapter 2 of part I 

8 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2220a 

9 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 300 (22 U.S.C. 

2 2220e) as section 300A; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 299 (22 U.S.C. 

4 2220d) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 300. FOOD FOR PEACE PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

7 United States Agency for International Development (re8 ferred to in this section as the ‘Agency’) a food assistance 

9 program, which shall be known as the ‘Food for Peace 

10 Program’. 

11 ‘‘(b) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstanding 

12 any provision of law that prohibits or otherwise unduly 

13 restricts the Administrator of the Agency (referred to in 

14 this Act as the ‘Administrator’) from carrying out the ac15 tivities authorized under this section, the Administrator, 

16 under the Food for Peace Program, is authorized to pro17 vide assistance, consistent with this section, including 

18 through the provision of agricultural commodities pro19 duced in the United States or acquired through local or 

20 regional procurement (including products derived from ag21 ricultural commodities), funds, and vouchers to meet 

22 emergency food needs arising from manmade and natural 

23 disasters, including famines and other food crises. 

24 ‘‘(c) NONEMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) OBJECTIVES.—Notwithstanding section 

2 55305 of title 46, United States Code, the Adminis3 trator, under the Food for Peace Program, is au4 thorized to provide assistance, directly or through el5 igible organizations described in paragraph (2), and 

6 consistent with this section, including through the 

7 provision of agricultural commodities produced in 

8 the United States or acquired through local or re9 gional procurement (including products derived from 

10 agricultural commodities), funds, and vouchers to 

11 carry out nonemergency food security programs in 

12 foreign countries to achieve any of the following ob13 jectives: 

14 ‘‘(A) Combating malnutrition, especially in 

15 infants, children, and mothers, including 

16 through appropriate health interventions di17 rectly related to alleviating or preventing mal18 nutrition. 

19 ‘‘(B) Addressing hunger needs. 

20 ‘‘(C) Mitigating food crises, particularly 

21 with respect to vulnerable populations. 

22 ‘‘(D) Promoting resilient food security 

23 through integrated and holistic programs 

24 that— 

25 ‘‘(i) improve agricultural productivity; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) diversify incomes for vulnerable 

2 populations within the agricultural and 

3 other related sectors to reduce food insecu4 rity; 

5 ‘‘(iii) enhance community and other 

6 development activities significantly linked 

7 to agricultural activities; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) improve environmental practices. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—An organiza10 tion is eligible to receive assistance under paragraph 

11 (1) if the organization is— 

12 ‘‘(A) a private voluntary organization or 

13 cooperative that is registered with the Adminis14 trator; 

15 ‘‘(B) directly supervised by an organization 

16 described in subparagraph (A); or 

17 ‘‘(C) an intergovernmental organization, 

18 such as the World Food Program. 

19 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM FUNDING FOR NONEMERGENCY AS20 SISTANCE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graphs (2) and (3), of the amounts made available 

23 to carry out emergency and nonemergency food as24 sistance programs under this section, not less than 

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1 pended for each fiscal year to carry out subsection 

2 (c). 

3 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM LEVEL.—The amount made 

4 available to carry out subsection (c) shall not be less 

5 than $375,000,000 for any fiscal year. 

6 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 

7 the requirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) after 

8 certifying to the appropriate congressional commit9 tees that— 

10 ‘‘(A)(i) additional funds are required to 

11 provide food assistance to meet an urgent hu12 manitarian need; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) other sources of funds authorized for 

14 use in emergency situations have already been 

15 obligated; 

16 ‘‘(B) additional funds subject to the waiver 

17 under this paragraph are— 

18 ‘‘(i) first paid from unobligated funds; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) only paid from obligated funds if 

21 the additional funds are necessary to meet 

22 an urgent and compelling humanitarian 

23 need; and 

24 ‘‘(C) if the urgent humanitarian need is 

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1 cal year during which the need began, the budg2 et request of the President for the subsequent 

3 fiscal year will include a request for emergency 

4 food assistance funding authorized under sub5 section (b) to account for the additional funds 

6 required to address the need. 

7 ‘‘(4) REPLENISHMENT.—If the Administrator 

8 waives the requirement described in paragraph (1), 

9 pursuant to paragraph (3), the Administrator may 

10 expend funds authorized under section 302 of the 

11 Agricultural Act of 1980 (7 U.S.C. 1736f–1) in an 

12 amount equal to the total amount of funds subject 

13 to the waiver to provide assistance under subsection 

14 (c). 

15 ‘‘(e) DESCRIPTION OF INTENDED USES.—A proposal 

16 submitted by any eligible organization to enter into an 

17 agreement for a nonemergency food assistance agreement 

18 program with the Administrator under subsection (c) shall 

19 include— 

20 ‘‘(1) a description of the proposed program; 

21 ‘‘(2) a description of the manner in which the 

22 proposed program would address 1 or more of the 

23 objectives described in subsection (c) in the region in 

24 which the proposed program is to be implemented; 

25 ‘‘(3) the amount of funds requested; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a description of any agricultural commod2 ities and products derived from agricultural com3 modities that would be used to implement the pro4 posed program; 

5 ‘‘(5) a description of the manner in which the 

6 organization would work with indigenous institutions 

7 and communities to carry out the proposed program; 

8 ‘‘(6) a description of the proposed output im9 pact and other indicators that would be used to— 

10 ‘‘(A) monitor the progress of the proposed 

11 program; and 

12 ‘‘(B) assist in determining whether the ac13 tivities funded under the proposed program are 

14 achieving program objectives; 

15 ‘‘(7) a description of proposed baseline data— 

16 ‘‘(A) that would be collected, to the max17 imum extent practicable; and 

18 ‘‘(B) against which indicators can be meas19 ured; and 

20 ‘‘(8) a plan for measuring and reporting 

21 progress towards achieving program objectives, out22 comes, and other indicators. 

23 ‘‘(f) FOOD AID CONSULTATIVE GROUP.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

2 the Food Aid Consultative Group (referred to in this 

3 section as the ‘Group’), which— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall meet regularly; and 

5 ‘‘(B) may organize into subcommittees, as 

6 appropriate, to review and address issues con7 cerning— 

8 ‘‘(i) the effectiveness of the regula9 tions and procedures that govern food as10 sistance programs established and imple11 mented under this section; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the implementation of other pro13 visions of this section that may involve eli14 gible organizations described in subsection 

15 (c). 

16 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Group shall be com17 posed of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Administrator; 

19 ‘‘(B) the Under Secretary of Agriculture 

20 for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; 

21 ‘‘(C) the Inspector General of the Agency; 

22 ‘‘(D) a representative of each private vol23 untary organization and cooperative partici24 pating in a program under this section, or re25 ceiving planning assistance funds from the 


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1 Agency to establish programs under this sec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(E) representatives from African, Asian, 

4 and Latin American indigenous nongovern5 mental organizations determined appropriate by 

6 the Administrator; 

7 ‘‘(F) representatives from agricultural pro8 ducer groups in the United States; 

9 ‘‘(G) representatives from the United 

10 States agricultural processing sector involved in 

11 providing agricultural commodities for pro12 grams under this section; 

13 ‘‘(H) representatives from the maritime 

14 transportation sector involved in transporting 

15 agricultural commodities overseas for programs 

16 under this section; and 

17 ‘‘(I) nutrition science experts from aca18 demia and nongovernmental organizations. 

19 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator shall 

20 be the chairperson of the Group. 

21 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATIONS.—Not later than 45 days 

22 before a proposed regulation, handbook, or guideline 

23 implementing this section, or a proposed significant 

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1 trator shall provide the proposal to the Group for re2 view and comment. 

3 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

5 shall work within the Group to take the actions 

6 described in subsection (B) to increase coordi7 nation and oversight of food assistance pro8 grams established and implemented under this 

9 Act, with a primary focus on improving quality 

10 control and cost effectiveness. 

11 ‘‘(B) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions 

12 referred to in subparagraph (A) are the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(i) Explore and test options for im15 proved packaging and storage of products 

16 to improve shelf life, promote rec17 ommended usage by intended beneficiaries, 

18 and oversee field-testing of products. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Work closely with the Depart20 ment of Agriculture, to undertake reforms 

21 in commodity acquisition and supply chain 

22 management, drawing on best commercial 

23 practices for vendor selection, quality as24 surance standards, overall management of 


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1 the supply chain, and auditing of food aid 

2 commodity suppliers. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Develop mechanisms and part4 nerships to facilitate more private sector 

5 development and innovation in food aid 

6 products, packaging, and delivery in order 

7 to improve the cost-effectiveness, nutri8 tional quality, and overall acceptability of 

9 the product. 

10 ‘‘(iv) Provide guidance to imple11 menting partners on whether and how best 

12 to use food aid commodities, such as new 

13 specialized food products, including guid14 ance on targeting strategies to ensure that 

15 the products reach their intended recipi16 ents. 

17 ‘‘(v) Work to strengthen the moni18 toring of commodity quality, as appro19 priate, by identifying and tracking key 

20 quality indicators to determine the full ex21 tent of quality problems, including emerg22 ing concerns. 

23 ‘‘(vi) Establish processes and system24 wide protocols for effective monitoring and 

25 evaluation of impact, to inform improved 


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1 program design, and to address improve2 ments in cost-effectiveness. 

3 ‘‘(6) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 

4 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

5 apply to the Group. 

6 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) FOOD AID QUALITY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

9 shall use funds made available to carry out the 

10 Food for Peace Program authorized under this 

11 section— 

12 ‘‘(i) to assess the types and quality of 

13 agricultural commodities and products do14 nated for food aid; 

15 ‘‘(ii) to adjust products and formula16 tions (including the potential introduction 

17 of new fortificants and products) as nec18 essary to cost-effectively meet nutrient 

19 needs of target populations; 

20 ‘‘(iii) to test prototypes; 

21 ‘‘(iv) to adopt new specifications, or to 

22 improve existing specifications, for micro23 nutrient fortified food aid products, based 

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1 trition science, and in coordination with 

2 other international partners; 

3 ‘‘(v) to develop new program guidance 

4 to facilitate improved matching of products 

5 to purposes having nutritional intent, in 

6 coordination with other international part7 ners; 

8 ‘‘(vi) to develop improved guidance for 

9 implementing partners on how to address 

10 nutritional deficiencies that emerge among 

11 recipients for whom food assistance is the 

12 sole source of diet in emergency programs 

13 that extend beyond 1 year, in coordination 

14 with other international partners; and 

15 ‘‘(vii) to evaluate, in appropriate set16 tings and as necessary, the performance 

17 and cost-effectiveness of new or modified 

18 specialized food products and program ap19 proaches designed to meet the nutritional 

20 needs of the most vulnerable groups, such 

21 as pregnant and lactating mothers, and 

22 children younger than 5 years of age. 

23 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out 

24 subparagraph (A), the Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall consult with independent en2 tities with proven expertise in food aid 

3 commodity quality enhancements; 

4 ‘‘(ii) may enter into contracts to ob5 tain the services of the entities described in 

6 clause (i); and 

7 ‘‘(iii) shall consult with the Food Aid 

8 Consultative Group established under sub9 section (f). 

10 ‘‘(2) FREIGHT PROCUREMENT.—Notwith11 standing division C of subtitle I of title 41, United 

12 States Code, or other similar provisions of law relat13 ing to the making or performance of Federal Gov14 ernment contracts, ocean transportation authorized 

15 under this section may be procured on the basis of 

16 full and open competitive procedures. Resulting con17 tracts may contain such terms and conditions as the 

18 Administrator determines to be necessary and appro19 priate. 

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—No assistance shall be made 

21 available through the Food for Peace Program under 

22 this section unless the Administrator determines 

23 that the provision of the agricultural commodity in 

24 the recipient country would not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) result in a substantial disincentive to, 

2 or interference with, the domestic production or 

3 marketing of agricultural commodities in the re4 cipient country; or 

5 ‘‘(B) have a disruptive impact on the agri6 cultural producers or the local economy of the 

7 recipient country. 

8 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON SALES OF UNITED STATES AG9 RICULTURAL COMMODITIES.—In carrying out the 

10 Food for Peace Program under this section, the Ad11 ministrator shall take reasonable precautions to 

12 avoid displacing any sales of United States agricul13 tural commodities that the Administrator determines 

14 would otherwise occur. 

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 is authorized to be appropriated, for fiscal year 2015 and 

17 each fiscal year thereafter, $2,400,000,000, which shall be 

18 used to carry out the Food for Peace Program established 

19 under this section.’’. 

20 (b) REPEAL OF TITLE II OF FOOD FOR PEACE

21 ACT.—Title II of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 

22 et seq.) is repealed. 

23 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 

25 Merchant Marine— 


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1 (1) is a critical component of our Nation’s mili2 tary and economic security; 

3 (2) consists of a fleet of private, merchant ships 

4 that are registered in the United States and provide 

5 domestic and international transportation for pas6 sengers and cargo; and 

7 (3) with the dedicated crews of mariners that 

8 operate the fleet, is an essential part of defense ca9 pacity in times of peace and in times of war. 

Æ 


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