[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 72 (Monday, May 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2248-S2249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 37--DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY DUE TO 
THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE, IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH A WAIVER OF THE 
   MINIMUM TONNAGE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 55305 OF TITLE 46, UNITED 
                              STATES CODE

  Ms. ERNST submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:

                            S. Con. Res. 37

       Whereas, in March and April 2014, the Russian military 
     invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and 
     the Russian Federation took action to establish pro-Russian 
     separatist states in the Donbas region of Ukraine;
       Whereas, the Russian Federation has failed to follow the 
     cease-fire agreements established by the Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 
     accords, and conflict has been present in Ukraine since such 
     invasion and annexation;
       Whereas, throughout 2021, Russia amassed troops, weapon 
     systems, and hardware on the border of Russia and Ukraine;
       Whereas, on December 17, 2021, the Russian Federation 
     presented the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (referred to 
     in this preamble as ``NATO'') with a list of security 
     demands, including that NATO would never allow Ukraine, or 
     other former Soviet states, into the alliance;
       Whereas such demands are non-starters for NATO and its 
     ``open door policy'', which dates to the alliance's founding 
     and gives no third party a say in such deliberations, and 
     such demands were only offered as a justification for a 
     Russian invasion;
       Whereas, on February 21, 2022, President Vladimir Putin 
     officially recognized the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as 
     independent states despite international consensus that those 
     regions remain part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine;
       Whereas, on February 22, 2022, President Putin ordered 
     Russian troops to enter Donetsk and Luhansk on a 
     ``peacekeeping mission'' while setting the stage for a larger 
     invasion;
       Whereas, on February 24, 2022, President Putin ordered 
     Russian forces to conduct a full-scale invasion, moving 
     beyond the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and initiating 
     attacks throughout broader Ukrainian territory;
       Whereas Russian forces continue to devastate Ukraine's 
     hospitals, schools, homes, and other civilian infrastructure, 
     and threaten nuclear power plants with heavy artillery, 
     multi-launch rocket systems, and munitions systems, with no 
     regard for civilian casualties;
       Whereas, an October 19, 2017, Government Accountability 
     Office Report stated that a ``2015 analysis of agency data 
     found that the application of CPFA requirements increased 
     United States Agency for International Development's and 
     United States Department of Agriculture's costs for shipping 
     food aid by about 23 percent, or $107 million, compared with 
     the estimated shipping costs without application of CPFA 
     requirements, from April 2011 through fiscal year 2014.'';
       Whereas, in a United States Agency for International 
     Development fact sheet titled: ``Food Aid Reform: Behind the 
     Numbers'', the United States Agency for International 
     Development stated that eliminating the mandatory cargo 
     preference reimbursements will reduce the deficit by an 
     estimated $50,000,000 per year;
       Whereas, in March 2020, the American Enterprise Institute 
     published a report titled ``The Cost of Cargo Preferences for 
     International Food Aid Programs'', which--
       (1) found ``that removing cargo preference requirements 
     would allow for between $36 and $64 million of already 
     appropriated funds to go to feeding the hungry and would 
     benefit U.S. soft power globally'';
       (2) stated that ``Owners of U.S.-flagged vessels do not 
     just charge higher freight rates for emergency aid shipments. 
     They also use older, slower, and less efficient ships that 
     take more time to complete their journeys, adding 
     significantly to delays in the delivery of urgently needed 
     resources to populations at risk of malnutrition.''; and
       (3) concluded that ``cargo preference for food aid imposes 
     substantial costs of USAID's Title II program budget. . . The 
     impacts are substantial, reducing the funds available for 
     additional food aid programs by $52.83 million a year.'';
       Whereas, in a March 25, 2022 information note titled ``The 
     importance of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for global 
     agricultural markets and the risks associated with the 
     current conflict'', the Food and Agriculture Organization 
     (referred to in this preamble as the ``FAO'') of the United 
     Nations stated that--
       (1) the invasion of Ukraine could raise food prices ``by 8 
     to 22 percent above their already elevated baseline levels'';
       (2) ``current indications are that, as a result of the 
     conflict, between 20 and 30 percent of areas sown to winter 
     crops in Ukraine will remain unharvested during the 2022/23 
     season, with the yields of these crops also likely to be 
     adversely affected''; and
       (3) ``FAO's simulations suggest that under such a scenario, 
     the global number of undernourished people could increase by 
     8 to 13 million people in 2022/23, with the most pronounced 
     increases taking place in Asia-Pacific, followed by sub-
     Saharan Africa, and the Near East and North Africa.'';
       Whereas, on April 8, 2022, the Associated Press published 
     that ``The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its 
     Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in 
     international prices for a basket of commodities, averaged 
     159.3 points last month, up 12.6% from February'', and that 
     ``As it is, the February index was the highest level since 
     its inception in 1990.'';
       Whereas, on April 27, 2022, the United States Agency for 
     International Development said in a press release that ``The 
     world is suffering from historic levels of global food 
     insecurity, which is being exacerbated by the impact Russia's 
     war on Ukraine is having on global food supplies. Available 
     estimates suggest that an additional 40 million people could 
     be pushed into poverty and food insecurity as a result of 
     Russia's aggression.'';
       Whereas, on April 27, 2022, the Administrator of the United 
     States Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, 
     said that ``In Ukraine, which provides 10 percent of the 
     world's wheat, farmers are struggling to plant and harvest 
     their crops for fear of shelling and Russian landmines, and 
     their path to exporting these vital commodities is severely 
     restricted by Russia's invasion, which caused the closure of 
     Ukraine's ports.''; and
       Whereas, on April 27, 2022, Secretary of Agriculture Tom 
     Vilsack, said that ``Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine, a 
     fellow major agricultural export country, is driving food and 
     energy costs higher for people around the world.'': Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) a state of emergency exists due to the Russian invasion 
     of Ukraine;
       (2) such state of emergency justifies a waiver of the 
     minimum tonnage requirements that apply to cargoes procured, 
     furnished, or financed by the United States Government, in 
     accordance with section 55305(c) of title 46, United States 
     Code; and
       (3) the heads of the appropriate agencies shall be notified 
     of such waiver.

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