Recognizing the continued success of the Food for Peace Act.

Bill: 118-hres-1349
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21]
Introduced: 2024-07-10
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-07-10
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Summaries:

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1349 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 10, 2024 Mr. Costa (for himself, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota , Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick , Mr. Jackson of Illinois , Mrs. Radewagen , Ms. Kamlager-Dove , Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer , Ms. Adams , Ms. Pingree , Mr. Bishop of Georgia , Mr. McCaul , Ms. Jacobs , Ms. Budzinski , Ms. Brown , Mrs. Watson Coleman , Ms. Crockett , Mr. Sorensen , Mr. Bera , Ms. Salazar , Mr. Molinaro , Mr. Valadao , Mr. Rouzer , Mr. Davis of North Carolina , Ms. Tokuda , Mr. LaTurner , Ms. Davids of Kansas , Mr. McGovern , Ms. Titus , Mrs. Hayes , Mr. Schneider , Mr. Amo , Ms. DeLauro , and Mr. Fitzpatrick ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs , and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Recognizing the continued success of the Food for Peace Act.

Whereas, on July 10, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, which created the Office of Food for Peace; Whereas 2,400,000,000 people globally, disproportionately more women and people living in rural areas, did not have access to enough nutritious food year-round in 2022; Whereas an estimated 783,000,000 people suffered from hunger in 2022, 122,000,000 more than in 2019; Whereas, in 2022, 149,000,000 children under the age of 5 were estimated to be stunted, i.e., too short for their age, and 45,000,000 estimated to be wasted, i.e., too thin for their height; Whereas the 2023 Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates notes that despite significant progress in reducing stunting in children globally, an estimated 128,500,000 children will be stunted in 2030 if current trends continue; Whereas, according to UNICEF, 1 in 4 children, or 181,000,000 children under the age of 5, lives in severe child food poverty, meaning that they eat at most 2 of 8 food groups needed for healthy development; Whereas undernutrition contributes to approximately 45 percent of deaths of children under 5 years old worldwide; Whereas significant numbers of vulnerable and chronically food-insecure people reside in conflict-affected areas, including Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Haiti, and people in these areas were among the largest recipients of Food for Peace aid in 2022; Whereas 9 years of conflict has devastated Yemen, resulting in catastrophic losses, displacement of millions of people, and one of the world’s largest food insecurity crises with half of all children under the age of 5 stunted or chronically malnourished; Whereas the United Nations estimates that 18,200,000 Yemenis, the majority of the country’s population and 10,000,000 of them children, depend on and are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance; Whereas nearly 5,000,000 children were forcibly displaced in Sudan by the end of 2023, representing the largest internal displacement crisis for children in the world; Whereas over half of the population in Sudan, including 3 in 4 children, are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, and 8,500,000 are facing emergency levels of food insecurity, with 14 areas at risk of famine; Whereas almost 32,000,000 people in Nigeria are projected to face acute food insecurity in the lean season this year; Whereas global humanitarian funding shortfalls risk increased hunger and malnutrition in these and other emergency settings; Whereas longstanding cooperation between Food for Peace and the United Nations World Food Programme has led to millions of people receiving critical food aid around the world; Whereas all food aid modalities, including United States commodities and assistance to help communities be self-sufficient, are critical to Food for Peace’s integrity and longevity; and Whereas the assistance provided by Food for Peace programs helps to address the root causes of mass migration of populations from poverty-stricken and food-insecure regions, including women and children who are disproportionately affected by food shortages and political instability: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) reaffirms that— (A) Food for Peace is an essential component of global food security efforts; (B) Food for Peace is an expression of the generosity and goodwill of the people of the United States toward the world’s most vulnerable populations; (C) food insecurity stems from an array of factors, including military conflict, civil strife, economic instability, underdeveloped food production and market inclusion, corruption, and climate extremes; (D) Food for Peace helps to alleviate humanitarian needs stemming from conflict and natural disasters, helps to prevent the spread of disease and malnutrition among pregnant women and children under 5 years old, and can help to counteract cycles of violence; and (E) Food for Peace contributes to the spread and strengthening of United States leadership worldwide through the investment of United States foreign aid and humanitarian assistance and is therefore a key component of United States foreign policy; (2) commends the Food for Peace program for reaching 53,000,000 people with emergency food assistance in 21 countries and nearly 3,000,000 people with resilience-building development assistance in fiscal year 2022; (3) commends Food for Peace for supporting vulnerable communities around the world in coping with crises as they make their journeys to self-reliance; (4) recognizes that— (A) United States foreign assistance helps create markets for United States products by reducing poverty, increasing production, and creating broadly shared wealth in developing countries; (B) humanitarian assistance helps countries and communities recover from serious disasters, crises, and emergencies, and puts them back on the road to prosperity; and (C) Food for Peace nonemergency programs are a critical part of this effort, as studies show that for every $1 invested in strengthening communities’ resilience saves $7 in more expensive humanitarian aid; and (5) calls for continued prioritization of funding for Food for Peace programs— (A) to continue the mission of fighting global food insecurity; (B) to help to reduce the number of mothers who lack the adequate prenatal nutrition and the healthy foods to care for their children once they are born; (C) to help to reduce the number of infants and children facing the lifelong effects of malnutrition; (D) to reduce the number of infants and children dying from malnutrition-related causes around the globe; (E) to continue to support nonemergency resilience-building efforts to address the root causes of hunger and reduce the need for future emergency assistance; (F) to maximize the economic and intellectual potential of local communities and global markets; (G) to support United States values; (H) to provide for the basic human needs of food and nutrition and for critical development activities; (I) to affirm the continued commitment of the United States people and their Government to helping some of the most vulnerable populations in the world at their times of greatest need; (J) to promote democratic values worldwide; and (K) to protect all food aid modalities and encourage alignment of food assistance with other forms of humanitarian and development aid to best help those in need.