to address hunger, food security, and agricultural 
development must respond to the needs and reality 
of small-scale producers, especially women, who rep-
resent between 60 and 80 percent of agricultural 
producers in the developing world, in remote and 
rural areas. 
(4) According to the United Nations World 
Food Program (WFP), more than 400,000,000 chil-
dren suffer from chronic hunger, and an estimated 
75,000,000 of these children, two-thirds of whom 
are female, do not attend school. The United Na-
tions Children’s Fund estimates that 9,200,000 chil-
dren under the age of 5 die every year, mostly from 
preventable and treatable causes, and that child and 
maternal malnutrition contributes to approximately 
6,000,000 deaths of children under the age of 5 an-
nually. 
(5) Children who are malnourished in the first 
two years of life suffer irreparable harm, have lower 
productivity and lower wages as adults, and are 
more likely to have children who are malnourished. 
(6) Over the last 25 years, United States assist-
ance for agricultural development has declined by 85 
percent and, with few exceptions, much of the inter-
national community has also neglected agricultural 
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development in the world’s poorest areas. At the end 
of 2008, the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID) had only 16 agricultural spe-
cialists and 6 technical agricultural experts on staff, 
representing a substantial lack of expertise and spe-
cialists at USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, 
and at United States field missions across the globe. 
Further, there has been a decline in United States 
and international donor support for agricultural edu-
cation, research and development, and extension 
services at all levels in developing countries and 
among donor nations. 
(7) During the period from 2002 to 2008, the 
world experienced rising food prices, including rapid 
acceleration occurring from 2007 to 2008, with a 
devastating effect on the food security and welfare 
of the 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide who live 
on less than one dollar a day and who spend 50 per-
cent to 80 percent of their income on food. Sharply 
increased prices for food and petroleum-based prod-
ucts, including fuel and fertilizers, were particularly 
devastating for poor, small, and rural agricultural 
producers. 
(8) The Economic Research Service of the De-
partment of Agriculture reported in May 2009 that 
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factors contributing to rising food and fuel costs in-
cluded decreased international stocks of staple 
grains and cereals, increased commodity prices 
brought about by drought, floods, and global climate 
change, increased food and fuel consumption by mid-
dle-income countries, such as China and India, and 
increased pressure on land use and production of 
basic cereals from greater cultivation of biofuels. Re-
garding rice, which is critical to the diet of about 
half the world’s population, factors behind the rise 
in global prices in 2008 were trade restrictions by 
major suppliers, panic buying of large importers, a 
weak dollar, and record oil prices. 
(9) From January 2007 through June 2008, 
food protests, including strikes, demonstrations, and 
riots over food, occurred in more than 50 countries, 
with some countries experiencing multiple occur-
rences and a high degree of violence, leading United 
States intelligence analysts and the Government Ac-
countability Office (GAO) to identify the political 
consequences of severe hunger and food insecurity 
among the main threats to national security, par-
ticularly in weak and fragile states. 
(10) Reducing hunger and increasing food secu-
rity require sustained multilateral cooperation. At 
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the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome, Italy, the 
United States and more than 180 world leaders 
pledged to halve the total number of undernourished 
people worldwide from the 1990 level—a commit-
ment reaffirmed in September 2000 when they 
adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration 
and established eight Millennium Development 
Goals, the first of which is cutting global hunger and 
extreme poverty in half by 2015. On July 15, 2008, 
the United Nations High Level Task Force on Glob-
al Food Security presented the Comprehensive 
Framework for Action to address the global food cri-
sis, providing governments and intergovernmental 
and nongovernmental organizations with concrete 
immediate and longer term responses to achieving 
food security, and which served as an impetus for 
dozens of countries to increase aid commitments. 
Further, in his March 2009 report to the United 
Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Spe-
cial Rapporteur on the Right to Food recognized 
that for international assistance to be effective, it is 
necessary to overcome structural impediments to the 
availability of and access to the global food supply 
for the one billion people who are undernourished. 
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(11) Established in 1983, the House Select 
Committee on Hunger examined domestic and global 
hunger issues comprehensively and made rec-
ommendations to the committees of jurisdiction on a 
broad range of programmatic and policy matters. 
These efforts led to increased resources for a variety 
of crucial emergency, safety net, health, education, 
income generation, agricultural development, child 
survival, and other programs. Congressional author-
ization for the House Select Committee on Hunger 
ended in January 1993. 
(12) In May 2008, the GAO released the re-
port, ‘‘International Food Security: Insufficient Ef-
forts by Host Governments and Donors Threaten 
Progress to Halve Hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa by 
2015’’, indicating that current efforts by the United 
States and international donors would not achieve 
the goal of cutting hunger in half by 2015 in sub- 
Sahara Africa. The GAO called for a government-
wide comprehensive plan to design, implement, over-
see, and evaluate United States programs and fund-
ing with respect to achieving the goal. 
(13) President Barack Obama has committed 
the United States to new leadership in the effort to 
reduce by half global hunger and poverty by 2015, 
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a commitment that was reiterated on January 26, 
2009, by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 
High Level Meeting on Food Security for All Con-
ference held in Madrid, Spain. On April 2, 2009, the 
President announced at the conclusion of the G–20 
Meeting in London the need to provide ‘‘immediate 
assistance to vulnerable populations’’ as a result of 
the global financial crisis and to ‘‘double support for 
agricultural development’’ so that people might ‘‘lift 
themselves out of poverty’’. 
(14) On February 24, 2009, a broad-based coa-
lition of United States nongovernmental organiza-
tions released the ‘‘Roadmap to End Global Hun-
ger’’, outlining a comprehensive policy framework 
and specific funding levels for United States food as-
sistance and development programs through fiscal 
year 2014, including the creation of a White House 
office on global hunger, appointment of a global 
hunger coordinator, restoration of a select committee 
on hunger, and the development and implementation 
of a comprehensive governmentwide plan to alleviate 
global hunger. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the policy of the United 
States to reduce global hunger, advance nutrition, increase 
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food security, and ensure that relevant Federal policies 
and programs— 
(1) provide emergency response and direct sup-
port to vulnerable populations in times of need, 
whether provoked by natural disaster, conflict, or 
acute economic difficulties; 
(2) increase resilience to and reduce, limit, or 
mitigate the impact of shocks on vulnerable popu-
lations, reducing the need for emergency interven-
tions; 
(3) increase and build the capacity of people 
and governments to sustainably feed themselves; 
(4) ensure adequate access for all individuals, 
especially mothers and children, to the required cal-
ories and nutrients needed to live healthy lives; 
(5) strengthen the ability of small-scale farm-
ers, especially women, to sustain and increase their 
production and livelihoods; and 
(6) incorporate sustainable and environmentally 
sound agricultural methods and practices. 
(b) INITIATIVES.—It shall be further the policy of the 
United States that initiatives developed to carry out sub-
section (a)— 
(1) be guided by a comprehensive government-
wide strategy under Presidential leadership that in-
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tegrates the policies and programs of all Federal 
agencies; 
(2) be balanced and flexible to allow for pro-
grams that meet emergency needs and increased in-
vestments in longer-term programs; 
(3) develop mechanisms that allow cash and 
commodity-based resources to be effectively com-
bined; 
(4) define clear targets, benchmarks and indica-
tors of success, including gender analysis, in order 
to monitor implementation, guarantee accountability, 
and determine whether beneficiaries achieve in-
creased and sustainable food security; 
(5) employ the full range of diplomatic re-
sources and provide incentives to other countries to 
meet their obligations to reduce hunger and promote 
food security; and 
(6) work within a framework of multilateral 
commitments. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE ON 
GLOBAL HUNGER AND FOOD SECURITY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Hunger, malnutrition, under-nutrition, and 
food insecurity affect nearly every aspect of inter-
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national security, development, and humanitarian re-
sponse within the Federal Government. 
(2) While the United States cannot be expected 
to shoulder the majority of global investments in 
ending hunger and providing food security, the 
United States can and should lead the international 
community by taking immediate steps to make exist-
ing Federal programs more effective by increasing 
funding and requiring greater accountability in the 
implementation and effectiveness of United States 
global hunger, nutrition, safety net, emergency re-
sponse, and agricultural development policies and 
programs. 
(3) Despite the broad range of United States 
policies and programs related to ending global hun-
ger and promoting food security, there is no single 
office, official, or comprehensive governmentwide 
strategy that effectively integrates these activities 
and allows for comprehensive budgeting, evaluation, 
oversight, and accountability. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Executive Office of the President the White House Office 
on Global Hunger and Food Security (hereinafter referred 
to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’). 
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(c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office shall 
include the following: 
(1) Providing advice to the President on global 
hunger and food security issues. 
(2) Providing leadership and taking actions, 
consistent with applicable law, to ensure that efforts 
to reduce global hunger and increase food security 
are priorities of the Federal Government. 
(3) Working with Federal departments and 
agencies to ensure that addressing global hunger 
and food security is prioritized within such depart-
ments and agencies and that appropriate consider-
ation is given by such departments and agencies to 
the potential impact of their actions on global hun-
ger and food security, including in United States 
diplomatic, trade, energy, and labor relations. 
(4) Coordinating the development and imple-
mentation of a comprehensive governmentwide strat-
egy to address global hunger and food security with-
in an overall strategy for global development as de-
scribed in subsection (e). 
(5) Maintaining an inventory of global hunger 
and food security programs and activities of the 
Federal Government. 
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(6) Assessing existing authorities and mecha-
nisms within the Federal Government to address 
global hunger and food security and identifying the 
shortfalls of such authorities and mechanisms. 
(7) Preparing and submitting to the President 
and Congress an annual report on the expenditures 
of the Federal Government for global hunger and 
food security programs and a suggested budget for 
such programs. 
(8) Working with Federal departments and 
agencies, including the Office of Management and 
Budget, to take actions, consistent with applicable 
law, to ensure that Federal programs addressing 
global hunger and food security receive adequate, 
sustained, and reliable funding and that such fund-
ing is effectively spent. 
(9) Establishing indicators to measure progress 
with respect to specific global hunger and food secu-
rity targets, including gender-sensitive goals, in con-
sultation with and with input solicited from stake-
holders, potential beneficiaries, and implementing 
agencies and entities and ensuring adequate moni-
toring and evaluation of such indicators, including 
reporting to the President quarterly on the progress 
of Federal departments and agencies in meeting 
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such targets and the contribution to such progress 
by the high-level, governmentwide global hunger and 
food security meeting, described in subsection (f)(3). 
(10) Taking actions, consistent with applicable 
law, to ensure Federal Government coordination 
with other donor governments and international in-
stitutions. 
(11) Consulting with relevant public, private, 
and nongovernmental groups in the development, im-
plementation, and monitoring of the comprehensive 
governmentwide strategy to address global hunger 
and food security. 
(12) Promoting public awareness of the impor-
tance of addressing global hunger and food security 
and Federal efforts to achieve the goal of cutting 
global hunger in half by 2015. 
(13) Submitting to the President and Congress, 
not later than March 31 of each year, an annual re-
port on the implementation of the comprehensive 
governmentwide strategy to address global hunger 
and food security, including an assessment of agency 
innovations, achievements, and failures to perform, 
and policy and budget recommendations for changes 
to agency operations, priorities, and funding. 
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(d) COORDINATOR OF THE OFFICE.—The President 
shall appoint a Coordinator on Global Hunger and Food 
Security (hereinafter referred to in this section as the ‘‘Co-
ordinator’’). The Coordinator shall be the head of the Of-
fice and shall report to the President. 
(e) COMPREHENSIVE
GOVERNMENTWIDE
STRAT-
EGY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Coordinator shall de-
velop and take actions, consistent with applicable 
law, to implement a comprehensive governmentwide 
strategy to address global hunger and food security 
across the Federal Government, which shall include 
content with respect to programs and policies for— 
(A) emergency response and management; 
(B) safety nets, social protection, and dis-
aster risk reduction; 
(C) nutrition; 
(D) market-based agriculture, the rehabili-
tation and expansion of rural agricultural infra-
structure, and rural development; 
(E) agricultural education, research and 
development, and extension services; 
(F) government to government technical 
assistance programs; 
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(G) natural resource management, environ-
mentally sound agriculture, and responses to 
the impact of climate change on agriculture and 
food production; 
(H) monitoring and evaluation mecha-
nisms; and 
(I) provision of adequate and sustained re-
sources, including multiyear funding, to ensure 
the scale and duration of programs required to 
carry out the United States commitment to al-
leviate global hunger and promote food security. 
(2) 
COORDINATION
WITH
INTERNATIONAL 
GOALS.—In accordance with applicable law, the Co-
ordinator shall ensure that the comprehensive gov-
ernmentwide strategy described in paragraph (1) 
contributes to achieving the Millennium Develop-
ment Goal of reducing global hunger by half not 
later than 2015 and to advancing the United Na-
tions Comprehensive Framework for Action with re-
spect to global hunger and food security, including 
supporting the United Nations, international agen-
cies, governments and other relevant organizations 
and entities in carrying out the Comprehensive 
Framework for Action. 
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(3) INTEGRATION
WITH
NATIONAL
STRATEGY 
FOR
GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT.—The Coordinator 
shall take actions to ensure that the comprehensive 
governmentwide strategy described in paragraph (1) 
is integrated into any review or development of a 
Federal strategy for global development that sets 
forth or establishes the United States mission for 
global development, guidelines for assistance pro-
grams, and how development policy will be coordi-
nated with policies governing trade, immigration, 
and other relevant international issues. 
(f) COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS 
AND AGENCIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In performing its functions, 
the Office shall work with all relevant Federal de-
partments and agencies, including the following: 
(A) The Central Intelligence Agency. 
(B) The Department of Agriculture. 
(C) The Department of Commerce. 
(D) The Department of Defense. 
(E) The Department of Energy. 
(F) The Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
(G) The Department of Labor. 
(H) The Department of State. 
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(I) The Department of Treasury. 
(J) The Environmental Protection Agency. 
(K) The Millennium Challenge Corpora-
tion. 
(L) The Office of Management and Budg-
et. 
(M) The Office of the United States Trade 
Representative. 
(N) The Peace Corps. 
(O) The United States Agency for Inter-
national Development. 
(P) The United States Trade and Develop-
ment Agency. 
(Q) The Office of Global Women’s Issues 
of the Department of State. 
(2) COOPERATION REQUIRED.—To the extent 
permitted by law, all Federal departments and agen-
cies shall cooperate with the Office and provide such 
information, support, and assistance to the Office as 
the Coordinator may request. 
(3) HIGH-LEVEL, GOVERNMENTWIDE
GLOBAL 
HUNGER AND FOOD SECURITY MEETING.— 
(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Coordinator 
shall establish, schedule, and administer a high- 
level, governmentwide global hunger and food 
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security meeting (hereinafter referred to in this 
paragraph as the ‘‘meeting’’) once each week in 
accordance with this paragraph. 
(B) ATTENDEES.—The Coordinator and 
the head of each entity listed in paragraph (1), 
or the designees of such individuals, shall at-
tend each meeting. The Coordinator may select 
additional individuals to attend the meeting as 
the Coordinator determines appropriate. 
(C) CHAIRMAN.—The meeting shall be 
chaired by the Coordinator. 
(D) FUNCTION.—The purpose of the meet-
ing shall be to ensure that attendees of the 
meeting coordinate and take actions, consistent 
with applicable law, to implement the com-
prehensive governmentwide strategy to address 
global hunger and food security described in 
subsection (e). 
(E) OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—The Coordi-
nator shall ensure that the meeting includes 
consultation with and participation of non-Fed-
eral organizations with experience and expertise 
in combating global hunger and promoting food 
security. 
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(g) STAFF AND RESOURCES.—The Coordinator shall 
take actions, consistent with applicable law, to ensure that 
the Office has the staff and other resources necessary to 
carry out this section. 
(h) REPORT
ON COMPREHENSIVE GOVERNMENT-
WIDE STRATEGY.—Not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
Congress a report evaluating the design, implementation, 
and Federal Government coordination of the comprehen-
sive governmentwide strategy to address global hunger 
and food security required under subsection (e). 
(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the 
authority granted to a Federal department or agency, or 
the head thereof, by any other provision of law. 
(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 
and such sums as may be necessary for subsequent fiscal 
years. 
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT JOINT SELECT 
COMMITTEE ON HUNGER. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Funding, programs, and jurisdiction for ad-
dressing global hunger and food security are divided 
among many congressional committees and, as a re-
sult, inadequate emphasis is often given to address-
ing global hunger and food security in a comprehen-
sive way. 
(2) As the White House Office on Global Hun-
ger and Food Security, established under section 4, 
coordinates the programs, activities, and policies of 
the numerous Federal departments and agencies 
charged with carrying out hunger alleviation and 
food security programs, the establishment of a Per-
manent Joint Select Committee on Hunger will pro-
mote coordination across the multiple committees 
with jurisdiction and legislative authority over global 
hunger and food security issues. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Perma-
nent Joint Select Committee on Hunger (hereinafter re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Committee’’). 
(c) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be com-
posed of 16 members in accordance with the following: 
(1) 8 Members of the House of Representatives 
appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives, of whom 3 shall be appointed in con-
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sultation with the minority leader of the House of 
Representatives. 
(2) 8 Members of the Senate, of whom 5 shall 
be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate 
and 3 shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
the Senate. 
(d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the membership of the 
Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the origi-
nal appointment. 
(e) CHAIRMANSHIP.—The Committee shall select a 
chairman from among its members at the beginning of 
each Congress. The chairmanship shall alternate between 
the House of Representatives and the Senate with each 
Congress and the chairman shall be selected by the Mem-
bers from that House entitled to the chairmanship. 
(f) DUTIES.—The Committee shall— 
(1) hold hearings, conduct investigations, issue 
independent reports and analyses, and make policy 
and program recommendations to relevant congres-
sional committees of jurisdiction on issues related to 
global hunger, nutrition, food security, rural and ag-
ricultural development, emergency and humanitarian 
responses, safety nets and social protection, and 
other global hunger or food security programs, in-
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cluding the effectiveness of such programs in ad-
dressing global hunger and food security; and 
(2) examine issues relevant to the development, 
implementation, and monitoring of the comprehen-
sive governmentwide strategy to address global hun-
ger and food security provided by the White House 
Office on Global Hunger and Food Security through 
the holding of hearings, review of reports, and other 
relevant activities. 
(g) POWERS.—In carrying out its duties under this 
section, the Committee is authorized to— 
(1) hold hearings and sit and act at places and 
times within the United States and outside the 
United States during the sessions, recesses, and ad-
journed periods of Congress; 
(2) require the attendance of witnesses and the 
production of books, papers, and documents, admin-
ister oaths, take testimony, and procure printing and 
binding; 
(3) record hearings, prepare and provide tran-
scripts of hearings, use transcribers, recorders and 
stenographers, and establish a Web site; 
(4) make rules respecting its organization and 
procedures; and 
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(5) exercise any other authority of a committee 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate and 
utilize the resources of the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, except as provided otherwise in this 
section. 
(h) STAFFING.—The Committee may appoint and fix 
the compensation of staff as it deems necessary. 
(i) LIMITATION
ON AUTHORITY.—The Committee 
may not exercise legislative jurisdiction and may not take 
legislative action on any bill or resolution. 
(j) RULEMAKING.—The provisions of this section are 
enacted by Congress— 
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives and the Senate, re-
spectively, and as such they shall be considered as 
part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of 
that House to which they specifically apply, and 
such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex-
tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 
right of either House to change such rules (so far 
as relating to such House) at any time, in the same 
manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 
any other rule of such House. 
(k) FUNDING.— 
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