IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1137 
Expressing concern for the drought and endemic food insecurity plaguing 
the Horn of Africa and calling for greater humanitarian and agricultural 
assistance to the region. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 24, 2022 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. 
EVANS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing concern for the drought and endemic food insecu-
rity plaguing the Horn of Africa and calling for greater 
humanitarian and agricultural assistance to the region. 
Whereas, in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Soma-
lia are undergoing the worst drought in 40 years and one 
of the greatest food insecurity emergencies in the 21st 
century after four consecutive seasons with below average 
rainfall; 
Whereas the drought in the Horn of Africa has caused wide-
spread livestock deaths, rampant crop failures, and rising 
food prices, which have exacerbated gender-based violence 
and maternal mortality, and led to societal disruptions 
like families fleeing their homes and radically declining 
school attendance; 
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•HRES 1137 IH 
Whereas, according to the World Food Programme and the 
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humani-
tarian Affairs, approximately 7,200,000 people in south 
and southeastern Ethiopia are severely food insecure as 
a result of the drought; the number of Kenyans needing 
food aid has quadrupled in under 2 years with 3,500,000 
now facing hunger; and in the upcoming months, there 
is a serious risk of widespread famine in Somalia, where 
nearly 6,000,000 are experiencing acute food insecurity 
and over 81,000 are already facing famine conditions; 
Whereas the World Food Programme estimates that the on-
going drought in the Horn of Africa places up to 
20,000,000 people at risk of starvation through 2022 
without humanitarian intervention, and the World Food 
Programme has therefore called for swift increases in 
support from world partners due to shortages in food aid; 
Whereas the nations of the Horn of Africa were able to per-
severe through the drought of 2016 and 2017 due to the 
early scaling-up of aid, but amidst other competing hu-
manitarian crises globally, the existing supply of food as-
sistance is insufficient to prevent starvation during the 
present hunger emergency in the Horn of Africa, where 
food assistance needs are over 70 percent higher than the 
2016 to 2017 drought according to the Famine Early 
Warning Systems Network; 
Whereas, in addition to the compounding challenges of four 
consecutive seasons of failed rains, recent global supply 
chain complications along with high fertilizer and crude 
oil prices—due in part to the COVID–19 pandemic and 
the Russian invasion of Ukraine—have raised food 
prices, worsened acute hunger, and diminished capacities 
to deliver aid to the Horn of Africa; 
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•HRES 1137 IH 
Whereas the United States is the largest bilateral donor of 
international food assistance among world nations, and 
like other Sahel and sub-Saharan states, countries in the 
Horn of Africa have been among the greatest recipients 
of direct United States food aid in recent years; and 
Whereas this mounting crisis in the Horn of Africa requires 
global attention and a shared commitment to foreign as-
sistance—both urgent humanitarian assistance and long- 
term agricultural development aid—to avert thousands of 
deaths: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses deep concern for the latest years- 
long drought in the Horn of Africa and the ensuing 
food security crisis and severe socioeconomic disturb-
ances it caused; 
(2) acknowledges the role that climate change 
plays in increasing the frequency of extreme weather 
events like droughts, and pledges to take coordi-
nated, international action to adapt to and avert fur-
ther global warming; 
(3) reaffirms the effectiveness and instrumen-
tality of United States international food assistance 
for meeting humanitarian obligations, cultivating en-
during self-reliance in developing nations, ensuring 
the stability of global financial markets, and miti-
gating the likelihood of conflict in accordance with 
our national security interests; 
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•HRES 1137 IH 
(4) emphasizes the importance of funding ur-
gently needed humanitarian assistance for hunger- 
stricken regions of the world, supporting the devel-
opment of sustainable agricultural sectors in devel-
oping nations, and assisting with the international 
resettlement of refugees escaping droughts and ex-
treme hunger; and 
(5) urges the Biden administration, the Depart-
ment of State, and the United States Agency for 
International Development to immediately offer 
technical and material assistance, as appropriate 
and to the extent allowable under Federal law and 
congressional appropriations, to support affected 
East African nations, international organizations, 
and nongovernmental organizations in their efforts 
to alleviate hunger and deliver food aid to commu-
nities impacted by the drought in the Horn of Afri-
ca. 
Æ 
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