Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for exacerbating global food insecurity through its illegal, unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Bill: 118-hres-677
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50]
Introduced: 2023-09-12
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-12
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-09-12
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>This resolution condemns Russia for exacerbating global food insecurity through its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;The resolution condemns Russia for suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a 2022 United Nations-brokered agreement between Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia for grain exports through the Black Sea.&nbsp;The resolution also calls on Russia to immediately resume participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative or pledge noninterference for commercial grain shipping in the Black Sea without any preconditions. Additionally, the resolution expresses solidarity with all people affected by food insecurity resulting from Russia's war against Ukraine.</p>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 677 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 12, 2023 Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Kean of New Jersey , Mr. Keating , and Mr. Fitzpatrick ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for exacerbating global food insecurity through its illegal, unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Whereas Ukraine has historically been a significant supplier of agricultural products for global markets, providing food for nearly 400 million people around the world, is the world’s fifth largest exporter of wheat, and provides over 11 percent of cereals to the world; Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an unprovoked, full-scale invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine; Whereas throughout the invasion, the Russian Federation has consistently mined Ukrainian farmland and bombed grain silos; Whereas, beginning on that date, the Russian Federation implemented an illegal naval blockade of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, disrupting Ukraine’s food exports, driving up global food prices and exacerbating global food insecurity; Whereas given many developing countries’ pre-war reliance on Ukrainian foodstuffs, the Russian Federation’s illegal blockade of Ukrainian ports disproportionately harmed millions of people who were already struggling with food insecurity before the war; Whereas, in May 2022, the European Union established and provided significant investment for Solidarity Lanes as road, rail, and inland waterway alternatives to facilitate the export of Ukrainian agricultural and nonagricultural products to global markets despite the Russian Federation’s illegal naval blockade of Ukraine; Whereas Ukrainian ports along the Danube River serve as an important alternative route for the export of Ukrainian goods, and are now a critical Black Sea shipping outlet for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain, but cannot accommodate all the grain previously transported from Black Sea ports; Whereas the Ukrainian Danube River ports have repeatedly been struck by Russian attacks following the Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, destroying thousands of tons of grain and damaging necessary port infrastructure; Whereas, on July 27, 2022, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and the United Nations launched the Black Sea Grain Initiative to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels carrying grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizers, including ammonia, in and out of three Ukrainian ports; Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) ; Whereas under this initiative, teams of Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, and United Nations officials inspected cargo ships inbound to or outbound from Ukrainian ports and traveling along a specified humanitarian corridor; Whereas until the Russian Federation suspended its participation, the Black Sea Grain Initiative facilitated the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grain; Whereas, during the period in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was active, the Russian Federation reportedly delayed inspections of eligible vessels, reducing the amount of agricultural products that were exported from Ukraine to millions of people who relied on them; Whereas, on July 17, 2023, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and soon thereafter announced that it would consider civilian vessels traveling in the Black Sea to be valid military targets; Whereas despite the Kremlin’s claims to the contrary in justifying its decision to suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia is making significant profits from its grain exports; Whereas the Russian Federation defended its suspension of participation in the initiative by falsely claiming that Western sanctions enacted against it in response to its invasion of Ukraine prohibited exports of Russian agricultural products to the world, despite longstanding humanitarian carve-outs in European Union and United States sanctions regimes; Whereas, since suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Russian Federation has launched missile and drone strikes against ports previously involved in the Initiative such as Odesa and Mykolaiv, in addition to inland ports on the Danube River, damaging port and grain processing infrastructure, at least 5 civilian vessels, and destroying more than 180,000 tons of grain; and Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018), to which the Russian Federation agreed, calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding … taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including objects necessary for food production and distribution : Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) condemns the Russian Federation for suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative; (2) calls on the Russian Federation to immediately resume participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative or pledge noninterference for commercial grain shipping in the Black Sea without any preconditions to avoid a global food crisis, and demands the Russian Federation ceases the targeting of Ukrainian grain storage and port facilities; (3) affirms that the Russian Federation’s unprovoked full-scale invasion and illegal naval blockade of Ukraine are to blame for rising global food insecurity, and affirms that civilian vessels are not targets of war; (4) considers the Russian Federation’s weaponization of hunger to be a deliberate element of its strategy to coerce Ukraine into agreeing to an unfavorable negotiated settlement to the war; (5) believes rising global food insecurity worsened by the Russian Federation’s unprovoked full-scale invasion and illegal naval blockade of Ukraine threatens United States national security; (6) commends the European Union’s Solidarity Lanes for being excellent examples of the benefits of burden sharing in tackling shared challenges; (7) supports any other efforts to work with like-minded allies and partners to meet the food needs of countries most impacted by food insecurity arising from the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine; and (8) expresses solidarity with all people affected by food insecurity resulting from the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine.