Date: 1983-06-13
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I want to first commend the gentleman from California. the chairman of the subcommittee. and the gentleman from Missouri. the ranking minority member. for the diligence and the good job they have done in bringing this legislation to the floor. As all of us know. we face a very difficult situation throughout our country for many reasons.. but one of the prime factors is that we have people who do not have an adequate diet. more so than the oridinary. and this legislation was artfully crafted to provide safeguards and to provide the necessary input within the limits of the budget and within the limits of available commodities. and I am satisfied that they have done that and it deserves the support of the House and the membership at large to enact this legislation. Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 1590. the Emergency Food Assistance and Commodity Distribution Act of 1983. This bill has a simple purpose. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to use surplus food commodities in Government stocks to feed the hungry among usparticularly the unemployed and needy who are served on an emergency basis by organizations such as food banks and soup kitchens. It also will make food available to aid uther more traditional feeding programsthe child nutrition and elderly Americans programs. for example. But its primary emphasis is to furnish food assistance to those who are largely bypassed or shortchanged by the ongoing Federal programs. It will also fill what has been a crucial gap in efforts to aid the needy by supplying some funding to get the commodities into the hands of individuals who need them most. The recently enacted jobs bill recognized the needs of many for emergency food assistance. It established a program to meet those needs and provide some fund for food distribution. But the program expires on the coming September 30. H.R. 1590 would continue a similar program for 2 more years. through September 30. 1985. The Subcommittee on Marketing. Consumer Relations. and Nutrition. under the able leadership of Chairmen LEON PANETTA and BLu. EMERSON. the ranking minority member. hefd a series of hearings in Washington and in various other locations to ascertain the facts about hunger in this country. The testimony of witness after witness illustrated the tremendous increase In the numbers of those seeking emergency food aid from soup kitchens. food banks and similar organizations. Despite heroic efforts by volunteers. the problems of these organizations in arranging for the handling. storage and distribution of donated foods. on a shoestring were repeatedly stressed. It is these conditions that H.R. 1590 is designed to address. The bill authorizes no new commodity acquisition program. It focuses on using commodities already acquired under the price support programs but which exceed quantities needed to meet domestic and foreign commitments of the Commodity Credit Corporation. These commitments of the Commodity Credit Corporation. These commitments include the Secretarys domestic paymentinkind program for foreign assistance and market development. Stocks exceeding such needs must be made availqble to feed the hungry and other deserving recipients. In this regard. the bill was revised during committee consideration to give the Secretary some additional flexibility in determining the amount of commodities which will be necessary to meet domestic and foreign commitments of the Commodity Credit Corporation. But it is the committees clear intent that any Corporation stocks which are not committed must be made available for purposes of H.R. 1590. It Is expected that ample stocks of dairy products will be available for distribution. Large quantities of other commodities. such as honey and rice should also be available. The socalled PIK program has reduced the Corporations stocks of most grains. and may deplete its wheat stocks. Because flour is highly desirable for feeding programs. H.R. 1590 permits the Secretary to use up to a total of 300.000 metric tons of wheat from the food security wheat reserve for domestic program purposes. both under the jobs bill and H.R. 1590. The 4 million metric ton reserve was established in 1980 to insure that wheat would be available for humanitarian purposes abroad in the event of any shortage of U.S. stocks. Use of the reserve for domestic food programs has been the subject of some controvesy. H.R. 1590 specifies that the total quantity of reserve wheat that may be used under both Its program and the Jobs bill food distribution program is 300.000 metric tons. I would note that the jobs bill itself allows use of 300.000 metric tons of reserve grain for this purpose. Therefore. H.R. 1590 does not increase the quantity that may be drawn down from the reserve for domestic purposes. Further. the bill provides for replenishing the reserve to the extent that any wheat is used for domestic programs. To resolve concerns raised by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I shall offer an amendment that would require the Secretary to use Co rporation funds. without prior appropriation. to purchase wheat sufficient to replenish any quantities from the reserve used for domestic programs if Corporation stocks are not sufficient for that purpose. but only if the entire reserve is depleted for foreign food assistance activities. I would point out that. to this date. no wheat has been drawn from the reserve for its original. designated purpose. Both committees are In agreement that this amendment will adequately address an issue in which the Committee on Foreign Affairs has an appropriate jurisdictional interest. The bill also makes available up to $50 million in Corporation funds annually to cover costs of distributing commodities. with a cap on the amount to be made available to any State equal to 5 percent of the value of commodities distributed by the Secretary to the State. The Corporation will. at its expense. initially process the commodities and deliver them to State agencies which will. as has been the case in the past. carry out the program within the States. The $50 million in Corporation funds under the bill are earmarked first for the local distribution costs of food banks and other emergency feeding organizations. Then the remaining funds are available for costs of the State agencies in handling the commodities and distributing them to the organizations that will get them to the individual recipients. It is anticipated that significant amounts of funds will be available for this latter purpose. The Committee on Education and Labor has communicated concerns regarding the possible impact of H.R. 1590 on the ongoing. more traditional food programs such as the child nutrition and older Americans programs which fall within its jurisdiction. In response. the bill was amended in committee to Insure that the traditional programs will. retain their historical share of donated bonus commodities. And I shall offer an amendment to H.R. 1590 that will insure that administrative funding made available to the State agencies. over and above that needed for local distribution costs of emergency food aid organizations. will be utilized by State agencies to cover costs of distributing the food to emergency and traditional distribution organizations alike on a nonpreferential basis. I would like to add that the Committee on Education and Labor has reported by a 27to2 vote. H.R. 1513. which was jointly referred to our committee. In many respects its provisions and objectives parallel those of H.R. 1590. We have enjoyed the cooperation of the Committee on Education and Labor in fashioning a measure to meet our jointly perceived needs. The bill also directs the Secretary to carry out a complementary program under which commodities available under the bill are to be made available to private companies for further processing into end food productsprocessing of flour into pasta. for example. The food products then would be made available to eligible distribution organizations for use in their programs. The expense of the additional processing would be borne by the recipient organizations. except that up to $10 million in Corporation funds would be available annually to cover the final processing costs of food to be distributed by emergencytype organizations. The committee believes that this approach offers great promise for the effective use of initially processed Corporation stocks by the ultimate recipients. The bill contains various safeguards to protect this aspect of the program from abuse. The Secretary is directed to carry out the program to insure the Secretarys intent to do so is not again frustrated by other sources within the administration. It would be appropriate to add that nothing in the bill diminishes or otherwise adversely affects other food donation programs mandated by law. it complements and supplements such programs. And the legislation will expire in 2 years. so that the consideration of its future need can be weighed in conjunction with related programs of the 1981 farm bill which will also expire in 1985. So that the Members will have an overview of all major provisions of the bill. let me summarize them. H.R. 1590. as reported. wouldFirst. Direct the Secretary of Agriculture to distribute commodities owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation (the Corporation) that exceed quantities needed for the Corporations domestic and foreign comniltments to food banks. soup kitchens and like organizations that provide food on an emergency basis to the needy and unemployed and to other organizations which traditionally have operated nonemergencyfeeding programs. Second. Permit the Secretary to distribute any Corporationowned commodities to emergency feeding organizations ahead of other commitments. Third. If wheat in Corporation stocks is not adequate for the purpose. permit use of not to exceed a total of 300.000 metric tons of wheat from the food security wheat reserve for use in food programs under the act and under the recently enacted jobs bill (Public Law 988). generally require replenishment of the reserve by December 31. 1984. and provide for priority use of wheat acquired by the Corporation after use of reserve wheat for domestic feeding purposes to replenish the reserve. Fourth. Require the Secretary to publish advance notice of estimated amounts and types of commodities that will be available for program purposes during each fiscal year. together with estimated amounts and types of commodities to be in Corporation inventories during each fiscal year and the anticipated disposition thereof. This is essential to permit State agencies and recipient organizations to plan their activities in a reasonable and businesslike fashion. Fifth. Provide that State agencies that have customarily administered food distribution programs will be responsible for distributing the donated commodities to eligible organizations within the States. but that the Secretary will distribute such commodities directly to eligible organizations if States are prohibited from doing so. Sixth. If adequate commodities are not available for needs of all eligible organizations. give preference to needs of emergency feeding organizations. but other eligible organizations will. to the extent practicable. receive a share of any donated commodity equivalent to their share of that commodity distributed under existing law in fiscal year 1983. Seventh. Direct the Secretary to use Corporation funds to pay for processing and packaging of commodities into forms suitable for home or institutional useinkind payments are authorized. except that wheat from the Reserve may not be used for such paymentsand transporting commodities to State agencies. Eighth. Direct the Secretary to use Corporation funds not to exceed $50 million annually to pay costs of State agenciesbut not to exceed 5 percent of the value of commodities distributed to any State agencyin distributing commodities to eligible organizations and to pay costs of emergency organizations in distributing commodities to the needy locally. Again. if funds for distribution are not adequate for costs of distribution to all organizations. preference is to be given to distribution costs of emergency organizations. Ninth. Prohibit State agencies from passing on any distribution costs to emergency organizations but permit passing on such costs to other eligible organizations to the extent such costs are not reimbursed by the Secretary. Tenth. Direct the Secretary to distribute initially processed commodities to private companies for further processing into end food products for use by eligible organizations. The expense of such additional processing would be borne by such organizations. except that Corporation funds not to exceed $10 million annually are. to. be: made available for costs of suchprocessing for emergency organizations. Eleventh. Apply provisions of criminal law in other statutes pertaining to misuse of donated commodities to commodities donated under the act. require the Secretary to insure that distributed commodities will not displace sales of commodities. and prohibit other possible program abuses. Twelfth. Make clear that the donation program under the act supplements and complements mandatory Federal. State. and local nutrition programs and permit the program to be carried out in areas where the food stamp program is operating. Thirteenth. Prohibit commodities donated under the act from being considered income or resources under Federal. State. or local law. Fourteenth. Provide that the donation program established by the act will be effective on October 1. 1983. and expire on September 30. 1985. Fifteenth. Require the Secretary to continue to maintain the nutrition data base of the Department of Agriculture. and to carry out certain nutrition surveillance of various groups. The economic recession we are experiencing has fallen with particular harshness on some of our people. Recovery is coming awfully slowly to them. The press of the hungry on food banks. soup kitchens. and like emergency organizations. illustrates this point all too well. While many hunger. Government warehouses bulge with surpluses of some commodities. The Committee on Agriculture. on a broad. bipartisan basis. has concluded that. to the extent that there are not other legitimate commitments for these surpluses. the most worthy use for them is to feed the hungry in this country. It likewise concluded that modest funding is essential to move food from government stocks. through established State and private channels. to individuals in need. H.R. 1590 is the produce of that conclusion. I am confident that the House of Representatives will enthusiastically Join our committee in this emergency effort to meet the ancient injunction-"If they are hungry. feed them."