[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S198-S199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  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

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 379, S. Res. 260.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause 
and insert in lieu thereof the following:

       Whereas of all children under 5 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 undernourished adolescent girls often suffer 
     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,

[[Page S199]]

     and an estimated 60 to 80 percent of neonatal deaths occur in 
     low-birth-weight babies;
       Whereas a large body of 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 IQ, and physical, brain and cognitive 
     development; and
       (3) strengthening the immune systems of children;

       Whereas combatting malnutrition is an economic issue, as 
     well as a global health issue, that is central to reducing 
     poverty and putting communities on a path toward greater 
     self-reliance and economic growth;
       Whereas research indicates that--
       (1) adults who were well nourished as children earn up to 
     46 percent more than adults who were malnourished as 
     children;
       (2) countries with a very high burden of early malnutrition 
     have lower economic growth rates resulting from lost income 
     and productivity; and
       (3) the cost of child malnutrition is substantial, with 
     estimated losses in Gross Domestic Product of 3 to 16 percent 
     and potential impacts to the global economy as high as 
     $3,500,000,000 per year;

       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 Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy of the United 
     States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
     recognizes that it is in the national interest of the United 
     States to help developing countries reduce malnutrition by 
     addressing the direct and underlying causes of malnutrition;
       Whereas the linkage between humanitarian assistance and 
     development programming under the USAID Multi-Sectoral 
     Nutrition Strategy helps build resilience to shocks and 
     stresses in vulnerable communities, promotes greater self-
     reliance, and is essential to reducing long-term reliance 
     upon other forms of United States foreign assistance;
       Whereas, in addition to providing bilateral support, the 
     United States plays a leading role in 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, despite the significant progress in reducing 
     undernutrition since 1990, global progress has been too 
     slow--
       (1) to ensure that undernutrition no longer inhibits a 
     child's ability to attain a full and prosperous future; 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) malnutrition is a universal issue that no country can 
     afford to overlook;
       (B) food security and good nutrition in early childhood 
     saves lives and lays the foundation for healthy physical and 
     cognitive growth and development; and
       (C) the potential life-long health and economic benefits of 
     early childhood nutrition influence the future of individual 
     children and families, as well as entire communities and 
     countries;
       (2) acknowledges that effective programs to reduce 
     malnutrition are not only lifesaving, but also critical to 
     the success of United States foreign assistance programs to 
     improve global health, end preventable child and maternal 
     death, achieve an AIDS-free generation, reach starving 
     children during an emergency, strengthen food security, and 
     accelerate inclusive economic growth;
       (3) affirms that it is in the national interest of the 
     United States to help developing countries build their own 
     capacity to reduce malnutrition, address the direct and 
     indirect causes of malnutrition, and meet the nutritional 
     needs of women and children;
       (4) recognizes the effectiveness of the Multi-Sectoral 
     Nutrition Strategy of USAID, the U.S. Government Global 
     Nutrition Coordination Plan, and the U.S. Government Global 
     Food Security Strategy to address the direct and indirect 
     causes of malnutrition and reach, by 2025, the global 
     nutrition targets agreed to at the World Health Assembly in 
     2012;
       (5) supports the goals and principles of the Scaling Up 
     Nutrition movement to end global malnutrition through--
       (A) greater collaboration between governments, civil 
     society, international organizations, donors, the private 
     sector, and researchers on multi-sectoral approaches;
       (B) cost-effective and inclusive approaches; and
       (C) improved transparency and accountability for results;
       (6) recognizes the significant progress made in the fight 
     against global malnutrition,
       (7) recommends accelerating improvements to the systems 
     affecting the health and nutritional status of women and 
     children through innovative, scaled-up approaches;
       (8) applauds the efforts of USAID to integrate effective 
     nutrition programming across relevant development sectors; 
     and
       (9) calls for additional transformative efforts across 
     relevant sectors at USAID to accelerate progress toward 
     ending 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) agricultural development;
       (iv) basic education;
       (v) food assistance; and
       (vi) water, sanitation, and hygiene (also known as 
     ``WASH'').

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; that the 
resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that the committee-reported 
amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, 
be agreed to; that the committee-reported title amendment be agreed to; 
and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was 
agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 260), as amended, was agreed to.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The committee-reported title amendment was agreed to as follows:

         Amend the title so as to read: ``A 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 reducing 
     global malnutrition through the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition 
     Strategy.''.

                          ____________________