[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 260 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 260
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to
accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition
and supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for
International Development to global nutrition through the Multi-
Sectoral Nutrition Strategy.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2019
Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Schumer, Mr.
Young, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Casey, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Reed, Mr.
Cramer, Ms. Warren, Mr. Moran, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Gardner, Mr. Markey, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr.
Cardin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Wyden, Mr. King, Mr. Jones, Mr. Merkley, and Ms.
Klobuchar) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to
accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition
and supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for
International Development to global nutrition through the Multi-
Sectoral Nutrition Strategy.
Whereas, of all children under 5 years of age worldwide--
(1) 149,000,000, or 21.9 percent, are stunted or chronically
undernourished;
(2) an estimated 7.3 percent, or nearly 49,000,000, experience life-
threatening acute malnutrition (also known as ``wasting''); and
(3) more than 40,000,000 are overweight;
Whereas, in countries highly affected by undernutrition, stunting affects 1 in
every 3 children;
Whereas malnutrition directly or indirectly causes 45 percent of all deaths of
children under 5 years of age, a total of 2,600,000 deaths annually;
Whereas children who experience malnutrition--
(1) may experience impaired brain development, lower IQ, and weakened
immune systems; and
(2) are at a greater risk of contracting serious diseases;
Whereas undernourished adolescent girls have impaired cognitive ability and
productivity, and the future children of those girls are at increased
risk for low birth weight and death;
Whereas iron deficiency anemia, associated with undernutrition, contributes to 1
in 5 maternal deaths, or 20 percent of maternal mortality;
Whereas poor maternal nutrition contributes to poor fetal development and low
birth weight, and an estimated 60 to 80 percent of neonatal deaths occur
in low-birth-weight babies;
Whereas a large body of scientific evidence supports the benefits of improved
breastfeeding practices on the short-term and long-term health and
development of children and their mothers;
Whereas a growing body of evidence indicates that reducing maternal and child
malnutrition, especially in the critical 1,000-day period between the
beginning of pregnancy and the second birthday of the child, is
imperative to--
(1) ending preventable child and maternal deaths;
(2) improving cognitive and physical development; and
(3) strengthening the immune systems of children to bolster resistance
to disease;
Whereas leading economists and Nobel Laureates have identified improving child
nutrition as the most cost-effective way to improve global health
outcomes and enhance development;
Whereas the approach of the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy of the United
States Agency for International Development addresses the direct and
underlying causes of malnutrition;
Whereas the focus of the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy on linking
humanitarian assistance with development programming helps build
resilience to shocks in vulnerable communities;
Whereas malnutrition is a universal issue that no country can afford to
overlook;
Whereas countries with populations that experience high burdens of malnutrition,
including stunting, wasting, anemia, and micronutrient deficiency, will
struggle to achieve sustainable and equitable economic growth;
Whereas the United States plays a leading role supporting the goals of Scaling
Up Nutrition, a global movement of 60 countries to prioritize nutrition
through effective policy and dedicated national resources, particularly
during the 1,000-day window of opportunity between the beginning of
pregnancy and the second birthday of the child; and
Whereas, although the world has reduced undernutrition since 1990, global
progress has been too slow--
(1) to ensure that each child can attain a full and prosperous future
regardless of where that child was born; and
(2) for the global community to reach the global nutrition targets set
for 2025: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes that--
(A) food security and good nutrition in early
childhood saves lives and lays the foundation for
healthy physical and cognitive growth and development;
(B) the potential benefits of good nutrition in
early childhood are life-long and influence the entire
future of the child, with entire communities and
nations ultimately prospering;
(C) the right nutrition--
(i) helps children learn;
(ii) helps protect children from illness;
(iii) increases the productivity and
earning potential of children later in life;
and
(iv) supports the well-being and health of
the future offspring of those children who
receive that nutrition;
(D) women who are well-nourished and do not suffer
from anemia are less likely to die in childbirth or
give birth to children who are malnourished, breaking
the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition;
(E) good nutrition is an economic issue that is
central to reducing poverty and putting countries on a
path to economic development;
(F) adults who were well-nourished as children earn
up to 46 percent more than adults who were malnourished
as children;
(G) countries with a very high burden of early
childhood malnutrition have lower economic growth rates
due to lost income and productivity; and
(H) the cost of childhood malnutrition to countries
is substantial, with--
(i) estimated losses in Gross Domestic
Product of 3 to 16 percent; and
(ii) potential impacts to the global
economy as high as $3,500,000,000,000 per year;
(2) applauds the leadership of the United States in helping
developing countries meet the nutritional needs of women and
children;
(3) supports continued efforts by the United States to help
developing countries meet the nutritional needs of women and
children;
(4) commends the United States Agency for International
Development (referred to in this resolution as ``USAID'') for
recognizing that nutrition interventions are among the highest-
impact evidence-based interventions that--
(A) are lifesaving; and
(B) support the goal of ending preventable child
and maternal deaths;
(5) recognizes the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy, the
U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan, and the
Global Food Security Strategy as platforms through which to
reach, by 2025, the global nutrition targets agreed to at the
World Health Assembly in 2012;
(6) recognizes the vision and goals of the Scaling Up
Nutrition movement, a global partnership supporting country-led
efforts to improve maternal and child nutrition through the
involvement of--
(A) governments;
(B) civil society;
(C) the United Nations;
(D) donors;
(E) businesses; and
(F) researchers;
(7) recognizes that progress against global malnutrition
must be accelerated using innovative, scaled up approaches to
improve the systems that affect the health and nutritional
status of women and children; and
(8) calls for transformative efforts across sectors at
USAID to accelerate progress to end maternal and child
malnutrition, including through--
(A) country development cooperation strategies that
align with national nutrition plans; and
(B) improved and clear methods to track nutrition
funding and outcomes across all global nutrition
programs of the United States Government, especially
those relating to--
(i) global health;
(ii) food security;
(iii) agriculture;
(iv) basic education;
(v) food assistance; and
(vi) water, sanitation, and hygiene (also
known as ``WASH'').
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