IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 962 
Expressing support for assisting East African countries afflicted by the plague 
of desert locusts. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2020 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. BASS) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing support for assisting East African countries 
afflicted by the plague of desert locusts. 
Whereas the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment reports that East Africa is currently suffering the 
worst locust outbreak in decades, which will devour crops 
and pasture across that region; 
Whereas there are more than 25 million people experiencing 
severe food insecurity in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South 
Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan, and untold more 
will be at risk if the locusts, currently in their most vul-
nerable state, are not controlled using airborne pesticides, 
before they mature into full grown locusts; 
Whereas the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 
there may be insufficient resources to conduct aerial 
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•HRES 962 IH 
spraying to address the outbreak of desert locusts that is 
currently devastating East Africa; 
Whereas the locust situation in the Horn of Africa, particu-
larly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia represents an un-
precedented threat to food security and livelihoods; 
Whereas a relatively small investment now to help eradicate 
the locusts will obviate or ameliorate the need for a much 
larger United States emergency aid effort later; 
Whereas Executive Director for the WFP David Beasley re-
cently stated ‘‘Do nothing now and WFP will need up to 
15 times that amount—more than US $1 billion—to as-
sist people devastated by losing crops and livelihoods.’’; 
Whereas United States Ambassador to the United Nations 
food agencies in Rome Kip Tom has been coordinating 
efforts between the WFP and the Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO), offering support for locust eradi-
cation efforts and calling attention to areas which FAO 
needs to better address, including the safe application of 
pesticides, management of weak supply chains, coordina-
tion of aerial eradication campaigns, and use of digital 
surveillance tools; 
Whereas air assets capable of being deployed to support lo-
cust control efforts in East Africa potentially include the 
United States Air Force 910 Airlift Wing, based in 
Youngstown, Ohio, and those of contractors whose planes 
are routinely used by the United States Government; and 
Whereas prioritization of responses to the Coronavirus Dis-
ease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and travel restrictions 
resulting from the pandemic have created additional 
logistical challenges to locust eradication efforts, includ-
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•HRES 962 IH 
ing delays in procurement and delivery of material: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the coordination efforts of United 
States Ambassador to the United Nations food agen-
cies in Rome Kip Tom between the World Food Pro-
gramme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Orga-
nization (FAO); and 
(2) calls upon the President to— 
(A) 
elevate 
locust 
eradication 
efforts 
among relevant United States Government 
agencies to immediately address the emerging 
food security crisis in East Africa; 
(B) allocate appropriate air assets to sup-
port locust eradication efforts in East Africa; 
and 
(C) direct the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development to 
immediately mobilize personnel from the Office 
of Foreign Disaster Assistance to determine 
further types of assistance the United States 
may provide in East Africa. 
Æ 
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