[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9538-S9539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 227--PLEDGING CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL 
 HUNGER RELIEF EFFORTS AND EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SHOULD USE RESOURCES AND DIPLOMATIC LEVERAGE 
TO SECURE FOOD AID FOR COUNTRIES THAT ARE IN NEED OF FURTHER ASSISTANCE 
                  TO PREVENT ACUTE AND CHRONIC HUNGER

  Mr. DeWINE (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
Chambliss, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Dole, Mrs. 
Lincoln, Mr. Smith, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Hatch, 
Mr. Obama, Ms. Collins, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Santorum, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
Chafee, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
Inouye, Mr. McCain, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lugar, Mr. 
Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Levin, and Mr. 
Reed) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 227

       Whereas although there is enough food to feed all of the 
     people in the world, as of summer 2005, 852,000,000 people 
     are in need of food aid;
       Whereas almost 200,000,000 children under the age of 5 are 
     malnourished and underweight and 1 child dies every 5 seconds 
     from hunger and related ailments;
       Whereas the United Nations World Food Programme estimates 
     that more than 5,000,000 metric tons of food is needed to 
     prevent widespread hunger, 80 percent of which will be used 
     for emergency programs to provide aid for people threatened 
     by famine in 2005;
       Whereas, as of summer 2005, the United States contributed 
     approximately \1/2\ of the total food aid received by the 
     United Nations World Food Programme in 2005;
       Whereas, as of summer 2005, 1 person out of every 3 people 
     in Africa is malnourished as a result of drought, conflict, 
     the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune 
     deficiency syndrome (AIDS), locust infestations, and economic 
     dislocation, and countries in Africa will lack at least 
     1,500,000 metric tons of the food necessary to provide 
     sufficient nutrition to the people in these countries if the 
     level of donations does not increase;
       Whereas the World Food Programme, as of summer 2005, had 
     barely \1/2\ of the contributions needed to provide food aid 
     to the 26,000,000 victims of food shortage in Africa;
       Whereas more than 14,000,000 people in the Horn of Africa 
     are experiencing or are vulnerable to experiencing a severe 
     food shortage;
       Whereas approximately \2/3\ of the population of Eritrea 
     needs food aid and nearly \1/2\ of the women and children in 
     the country are malnourished;
       Whereas, as of summer 2005, 8,300,000 people in Ethiopia 
     are in need of food aid and other assistance as a result of 
     poor harvests, degraded land, small land holdings, high 
     population growth, loss of crops, and loss of livestock and 
     other assets;
       Whereas the United Nations World Food Programme food aid 
     programs in Ethiopia have received less than \1/2\ of the 
     funding necessary to continue these operations;
       Whereas the United Nations World Food Programme had 
     received, as of summer 2005, less than 10 percent of the 
     funding necessary to provide aid to the 3,500,000 people in 
     Sudan who will need food in 2005, particularly during the 
     height of the annual hunger season that lasts from August to 
     October, due to political instability and weather conditions 
     that ruined harvests in the country;
       Whereas a lack of funds will require the United Nations 
     World Food Programme to reduce the amount of aid given to 
     2,000,000 people in Burundi, including to 210,000 
     malnourished children and nursing mothers who face a food 
     shortage as a result of drought and instability;
       Whereas a lack of funds is expected to drastically 
     constrain food aid programs worldwide and the critical 
     efforts of private voluntary organizations of the United 
     States that play a central role in implementing such 
     programs;
       Whereas a lack of funds forced the United Nations World 
     Food Programme to begin reducing the amount of aid given to 
     an estimated 6,000,000 people in West Africa who are 
     experiencing a famine caused by displacement, drought, and 
     locusts;
       Whereas humanitarian agencies report rising rates of 
     malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in 
     Mauritania, Mali, and Niger, which can lead to developmental 
     difficulties and growth stunting;
       Whereas nearly 4,000,000 people in Niger, including 800,000 
     children, will face a food

[[Page S9539]]

     shortage in 2005 at a time when the child malnutrition rate 
     in the Niger region has reached emergency levels and the 
     country has been afflicted by locusts and drought;
       Whereas the Government of Mauritania had received only \1/
     2\ of the aid necessary to prevent a food shortage as of 
     summer 2005, leaving 60 percent of the families in Mauritania 
     without access to a sufficient amount of food in 2005;
       Whereas a lack of food in Sierra Leone forced the United 
     Nations World Food Programme to reduce the amount of aid 
     given to 50,000 Liberian refugees residing in the country in 
     the summer of 2005, causing additional strife in an already 
     tense political environment;
       Whereas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United 
     Nations World Food Programme has a 47 percent funding 
     shortfall as of summer 2005, which could force reductions in 
     the amount of food aid delivered to 2,900,000 people in the 
     war-torn country;
       Whereas, as of summer 2005, donors had provided less than 
     20 percent of the total funding that the United Nations World 
     Food Programme needs to provide an adequate amount of food 
     for the people of southern Africa;
       Whereas, due to increasingly severe drought conditions, the 
     number of people who are in need of food aid in southern 
     Africa increased from 3,500,000 people in the beginning of 
     2005 to 8,300,000 people by the summer of 2005, of which 
     4,000,000 are located in Zimbabwe, 1,600,000 in Malawi, 
     1,200,000 in Zambia, 900,000 in Mozambique, 245,000 in 
     Lesotho, 230,000 in Swaziland, and 60,000 in Nambia;
       Whereas international donors determined that hunger and 
     poverty in Zimbabwe are largely attributed to the political 
     corruption of the governmental structure in the country;
       Whereas the United Nations World Food Programme and the 
     World Bank proposed using aid to fund innovative weather and 
     famine insurance policies that could protect small farmers 
     from hardships suffered as a result of droughts and natural 
     disasters;
       Whereas food insecurity, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and weak 
     government institutions leave countries more vulnerable to 
     external shocks and internal political unrest; and
       Whereas the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust was established 
     solely to meet emergency humanitarian food needs in 
     developing countries: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate--
       (A) encourages expanded efforts to alleviate hunger 
     throughout developing countries; and
       (B) pledges to continue to support international hunger 
     relief efforts; and
       (2) it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (A) the United States Government should use financial and 
     diplomatic resources to work with other donors to ensure that 
     food aid programs receive all necessary funding and supplies; 
     and
       (B) food aid should be provided in conjunction with 
     measures to alleviate hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

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