[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2018 MARKUP

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 18, 2018

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we marked up H.R. 
5129, the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018. I'd like to 
thank Chairman Royce, for his leadership on global food security, 
including in particular for his original cosponsorship of this 
reauthorization as well as the original Global Food Security Act, and 
his agreeing to move this bill to markup so rapidly.
  The original Global Food Security Act promoted food security, 
resilience and nutrition in developing countries in keeping with U.S. 
national security interests. Through agriculture-led economic 
development, GFSA has strengthened partner countries' capacity and 
lessened their dependence on emergency food assistance. It has also 
improved efficiency among federal departments and agencies and 
leveraged the participation of other non-U.S. governmental partners.
  I should be restated that GFSA's legacy as a bipartisan success 
story--legislation which solidified in law a policy that had its roots 
in the Bush Administration, was amplified by President Obama and is now 
being implemented by President Trump.
  Now is the time to reauthorize this landmark legislation. H.R. 5129 
builds upon the Global Food Security Act of 2016, which formally 
codified the Feed the Future Initiative and was signed into law with 
overwhelming bipartisan support in July 2016, by reauthorizing the 
program for two years--per the Amendment you have before you--through 
2020.
  Crucially, this reauthorization bill emphasizes the importance of 
deworming initiatives. Among the neglected tropical diseases, 
intestinal worms account for nearly eighty percent of NTD prevalence, 
affecting close to one billion people the world over. These worms 
undercut our nutrition interventions, and can lead to death by 
malnutrition or lifelong stunting. We need to combine our nutrition 
interventions not only with a coordinated deworming campaign, but also 
with Water Sanitation Health interventions that change people's 
behavior. WaSH training helps ensure people limit exposure to worms, 
such as by washing and peeling vegetables or something as simple as 
giving children shoes to wear so if they trod on worm-infected soil 
they don't get sick again. We are trying to feed the future, not feed 
the worms.
  We will also rectify an oversight by including the Inter-American 
Foundation in the interagency initiative on Food Security. IAF does 
development right, in particular working with small holder farmers 
while keeping bureaucratic overhead low.
  That we are here reauthorizing the Global Food Security Act is a 
testament to the dedication of numerous committed groups outside 
Congress that have made food security and nutrition their priority, 
from advocates to implementers--especially and including faith-based 
organizations who perhaps work the closest to the small-holder farmers 
and women who benefit in particular from our food security efforts. I 
thank them for their support and look forward to working with them more 
in this process.
  I'd also like to compliment our federal agencies tasked with 
implementing the GFSA--in particular USAID under the leadership of Beth 
Dunford. The professionalism and dedication of Beth and many others is 
critical to the overall success of the program.
  Finally, I would like to thank Rep. Betty McCollum for again being 
the lead cosponsor on this critical, bipartisan legislation, as well as 
to thank original cosponsor Ranking Member Engel and the Ranking member 
of our subcommittee, Karen Bass and others.

                          ____________________