II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2805 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 19, 2009 Mr. Specter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to increase the amount made available to purchase commodities for the emergency food assistance program in fiscal year 2010.

1.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)more than 1 in 7 households in the United States struggled to find enough to eat during 2008; (2)poverty is the primary cause of food insecurity and hunger in the United States; (3)the annual report of the Economic Research Service of the Department of Agriculture on household food security in the United States found that in 2008, 17,000,000 households were food insecure, an increase from 13,000,000 households in 2007; (4)the term low food security means people being unable to consistently get enough to eat and the term very low food security means people being hungry at various times over the year and being unable to eat because of lack of money to purchase food; (5)the 17,000,000 food insecure households in the United States are home to 49,000,000 Americans, of whom— (A)17,000,000 are children, among whom nearly 500,000 in the developmentally critical years under the age of 6 are going hungry; and (B)12,000,000 adults and 5,200,000 children reported experiencing severe hunger, possibly going days without eating; (6)good nutrition is necessary for learning and academic achievement; and (7)Black and Hispanic households experienced food insecurity at far higher rates (25.7 percent in the case of Black households and 26.9 percent in the case of Hispanic households) than the national average.

2.

Availability of commodities for the emergency food assistance program

Section 27(a)(2) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2009 (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)(2)) is amended— (1)in subparagraph (B), by striking and at the end; (2)by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (E); (3)in subparagraph (E) (as so redesignated)— (A)by striking each of fiscal years 2010 through 2012 and inserting fiscal year 2012; and (B)by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting subparagraph (D); and (4)by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: (C)for fiscal year 2010, $500,000,000; (D)for fiscal year 2011, $250,000,000, as adjusted in accordance with subparagraph (E); and .