[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6203 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6203

  To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Emergency Food 
Assistance Act of 1983 to make commodities available for the Emergency 
            Food Assistance Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 2, 2023

Ms. Salinas (for herself, Mr. Panetta, and Ms. Crockett) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Emergency Food 
Assistance Act of 1983 to make commodities available for the Emergency 
            Food Assistance Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Farmers Feeding America Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF COMMODITIES FOR THE EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAM.

    Section 27(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2036(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``2023'' each place it appears (except in 
        paragraph (2)(D)(ix)) and inserting ``2028''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (D)--
                            (i) in clause (viii), by striking ``and'' 
                        at the end; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(x) for each of fiscal years 2024 through 
                        2028, $500,000,000; and''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (E)--
                            (i) by striking ``2024'' and inserting 
                        ``2029''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``specified in 
                        subparagraph (D)(ix)'' and inserting 
                        ``described in subparagraph (D)(x)''.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION.

    Section 204(a)(1) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 
U.S.C. 7508(a)(1)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking 
``$100,000,000'' and inserting ``$200,000,000''.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS.

    Section 209(d) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 
U.S.C. 7511a(d)) is amended by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
``2028''.

SEC. 5. GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED STATES.

    Section 214 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 
7515) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Alternative delivery options for geographically 
        isolated states.--
                    ``(A) Definition of geographically isolated 
                state.--In this paragraph, the term `geographically 
                isolated State' means--
                            ``(i) the State of Hawaii;
                            ``(ii) the State of Alaska;
                            ``(iii) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
                            ``(iv) the Commonwealth of the Northern 
                        Mariana Islands;
                            ``(v) the Virgin Islands of the United 
                        States; and
                            ``(vi) Guam.
                    ``(B) Alternative delivery options.--At the request 
                of a geographically isolated State, the Secretary shall 
                coordinate with the geographically isolated State--
                            ``(i) to establish alternative delivery 
                        options for commodities allocated to that 
                        geographically isolated State under this 
                        section to ensure that the geographically 
                        isolated State is able to receive those 
                        commodities; and
                            ``(ii) to allow for the geographically 
                        isolated State to order commodities through the 
                        Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 
                        Program.
                    ``(C) Direct purchase option.--The Secretary may 
                transfer to a geographically isolated State the cash 
                value of not more than 20 percent of the commodities 
                allocated to that geographically isolated State under 
                this section to be used by the geographically isolated 
                State to procure domestically grown food in lieu of 
                receipt of those commodities.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Fresh Produce Packages.--
            ``(1) In general.--In purchasing fresh produce packages to 
        provide under the program established under this Act, the 
        Secretary may consider additional factors beyond lowest price 
        in determining winning bids for contracts for those fresh 
        produce packages, including product variety and transportation 
        distance.
            ``(2) Nutrition.--The Secretary shall carry out paragraph 
        (1) in a manner that maintains the goal of maximizing the 
        amount of nutritious food available through the program 
        described in that paragraph.''.
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