I 
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. RAN-
GEL, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Ms. LEE) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national 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 Representa-
tives 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 ac-
countability and natural disasters have left Africa 
with the highest concentration of human misery in 
the world’’. 
(3) The United Nations World Food Pro-
gramme reports that there is an unprecedented hun-
ger crisis on the African continent where approxi-
mately 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 com-
modity prices since the President submitted a budg-
et request for food aid and other humanitarian as-
sistance 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 over-
come its current crisis.’’. 
(6) At a United Nations Security Council meet-
ing 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 cur-
rently 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 pro-
ductivity and food security, undercutting people’s 
ability to recover and contributing to long-term pov-
erty. 
(9) The HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Afri-
ca, which strikes at working adults involved in agri-
cultural 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-Sa-
haran 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 as-
sistance 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 Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Appro-
priations, and the Committee on International Rela-
tions 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 Af-
rica. 
SEC. 103. EMERGENCY FOOD AID. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts oth-
erwise available for such purposes, there is author-
ized to be appropriated $600,000,000 for purposes 
of the emergency assistance program under title II 
of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assist-
ance Act of 1954. 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated 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 human-
itarian assistance for sub-Saharan Africa.
(c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—The entire amount 
authorized to be appropriated under subsection (a) is des-
ignated by Congress as an emergency requirement pursu-
ant 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, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry, and the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions 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 hu-
manitarian needs in sub-Saharan Africa; 
(2) an assessment of how a failure to meet 
these needs would impact United States national se-
curity interests in the region;
(3) a description of how additional food aid will 
be provided in coordination with other forms of as-
sistance, particularly agricultural development, food 
aid for development purposes, and HIV/AIDS pro-
grams; 
(4) a description of how additional food aid and 
other forms of assistance will be provided in con-
sultation and coordination with nongovernmental or-
ganizations; 
(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 an-
ticipated shortfall in funding, if any.
SEC. 105. COORDINATION OF FOOD AID AND OTHER HU-
MANITARIAN 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 cor-
ruption 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 poli-
cies set forth in this Act; 
(3) ensuring that the distribution of humani-
tarian assistance provided in response to the current 
crisis is not manipulated or politicized within the re-
cipient countries; and 
(4) maintaining proper management, implemen-
tation, and oversight by agencies responsible for exe-
cuting programs authorized in this Act. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the task force, 
the President should consult with the Majority and Minor-
ity Leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Lead-
er of the House of Representatives, and the chairmen and 
ranking members of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry and the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions 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 per-
manent representative or executive director, as the case 
may be, to the United Nations, the World Food Pro-
gramme, international financial institutions, and other ap-
propriate 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 fis-
cal year 2003, for purposes of section 491 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for relief, rehabili-
tation, and reconstruction assistance for sub-Saha-
ran Africa. 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated 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 PART-
NERSHIPS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services $100,000,000 to carry out sub-
sections (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 Inter-
national 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 pro-
viding treatment, medical care, and support services to 
HIV infected parents and their children. 
(c) AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated pursuant to subsection (a) are authorized to re-
main available until expended. 
(d) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—The entire amount 
authorized to be appropriated under subsection (a) is des-
ignated by Congress as an emergency requirement pursu-
ant 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).
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