[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 73 (Tuesday, May 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2283-S2284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 38--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 (for herself and Mr. Coons) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation:

                            S. Con. Res. 38

       Whereas, in February 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 ongoing in Ukraine since such 
     invasion and annexation;
       Whereas, throughout 2021, Russia amassed troops, weapon 
     systems, and military 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 counter to NATO's ``open door 
     policy'', which dates to the alliance's founding and gives no 
     third party a say in such deliberations;
       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 [Cargo Preference for Food Aid 
     (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''; and
       (2) concluded that ``cargo preference for food aid imposes 
     substantial costs on 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--
       (A) for the purposes of subparagraph (B), shall be in 
     effect beginning on May 1, 2022, and ending on February 1, 
     2025; and

[[Page S2284]]

       (B) justifies a waiver during such period of time of the 
     minimum tonnage requirements, in accordance with section 
     55305(c) of title 46, United States Code, for the transport 
     of equipment, materials, or commodities related to 
     humanitarian operations resulting from the 2022 Russian 
     invasion of Ukraine; and
       (3) the heads of the appropriate agencies shall be notified 
     of such waiver.

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