[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONDEMNING THE USE OF HUNGER AS A WEAPON OF WAR AND RECOGNIZING THE 
         EFFECT OF CONFLICT ON GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND FAMINE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 434, S. Res. 
669.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 669) condemning the use of hunger as 
     a weapon of war and recognizing the effect of conflict on 
     global food security and famine.

  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 resolving clause 
and insert the part printed in italic and with an amendment to strike 
the preamble and insert the part printed in italic, as follows:

       Whereas, in 2020, an estimated 155,000,000 people 
     experienced crisis levels of food insecurity (Integrated Food 
     Security Phase Classification phase 3 or above), with nearly 
     100,000,000 people living in environments where conflict was 
     the main driver of hunger, and the COVID-19 pandemic has 
     exacerbated rising levels of global food insecurity;
       Whereas conflict acutely impacts vulnerable populations 
     such as women and children, persons with disabilities, 
     refugees, and internally displaced persons;
       Whereas the impacts of conflict on food security can be 
     direct, such as displacement from land, destruction of 
     livestock grazing areas and fishing grounds, or destruction 
     of food stocks and agricultural assets, or indirect, such as 
     disruptions to food systems, leading to increased food prices 
     or decreased household purchasing power, or decreased access 
     to supplies that are necessary for food production and 
     preparation, including agricultural inputs, water, and fuel;
       Whereas conflict disrupts the distribution and buying and 
     selling of food within a food system, including by creating 
     shortages in production, increasing real and perceived risks 
     for travel and transport, enabling the formation of illegal 
     distribution channels and markets, and contributing to the 
     breakdown of a government's ability to enforce regulations or 
     perform its judiciary functions;
       Whereas aerial bombing campaigns targeting agricultural 
     heartlands, and the use of scorched earth methods of warfare, 
     landmines, and other explosive devices have direct impacts on 
     the ability of vulnerable populations to feed themselves;
       Whereas effective humanitarian response in conflict, 
     including in response to the threat of conflict-induced 
     famine and food insecurity, requires respect for 
     international humanitarian law by all parties to such 
     conflict, and allowing and facilitating the rapid and 
     unimpeded movement of humanitarian relief to all those in 
     need;
       Whereas efforts to restrict humanitarian aid and the 
     operational integrity and impartiality of humanitarian aid 
     works and distribution efforts, including through the 
     imposition of blockades, security impediments, or irregular 
     bureaucratic requirements, are another means by which 
     combatants employ starvation and food deprivation as a weapon 
     of war; and
       Whereas the United States Government has multiple tools to 
     fight global hunger, protect lifesaving assistance, and 
     promote the prevention of conflict, including through the 
     Global Fragility Act of 2019 (title V of division J of Public 
     Law 116-94), the Global Food Security Act of 2016 (Public Law 
     114-195), and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public 
     Law 115-334), and has the potential to hold accountable those 
     using hunger as a weapon of war through the Global Magnitsky 
     Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of 
     Public Law 114-328): Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, 
       That the Senate--

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       The Senate--
       (1) condemns the use of hunger as a weapon of war through 
     the--
       (A) starvation of civilians;
       (B) intentional and reckless destruction, removal, looting, 
     or rendering useless objects necessary for food production 
     and distribution, such as farmland, markets, mills, food 
     processing and storage facilities, foodstuffs, crops, 
     livestock, agricultural assets, waterways, water systems, 
     drinking water facilities and supplies, and irrigation 
     networks;
       (C) denial of humanitarian access and the deprivation of 
     objects indispensable to people's survival, such as food 
     supplies and nutrition resources; and
       (D) willful interruption of market systems for populations 
     in need, including through the prevention of travel and 
     manipulation of currency exchange; and
       (2) calls on the United States Government to--
       (A) prioritize diplomatic efforts to call out and address 
     instances where hunger and intentional deprivation of food is 
     being utilized as a weapon of war, including through efforts 
     to ensure that security operations minimize civilian harm and 
     do not undermine livelihoods of civilian populations;
       (B) continue efforts to address severe global food 
     insecurity through effective humanitarian response efforts, 
     including through the provision of United States in-kind food 
     assistance, vouchers, and other flexible food aid modalities;
       (C) ensure existing interagency strategies, crisis response 
     efforts, and ongoing programs consider, integrate, and adapt 
     to conflict situations, including by utilizing crisis 
     modifiers in United States Agency for International 
     Development programming to respond to rapid shocks and stress 
     such as the willful targeting of food systems; and
       (D) ensure that the use of hunger as a weapon of war is 
     considered within the employment of tools to hold 
     individuals, governments, militias, or entities responsible, 
     such as the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
     (22 U.S.C. 2656), where appropriate, and taking into 
     consideration the need for humanitarian exemptions and the 
     protection of lifesaving assistance.

     SEC. 2. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as 
     authorizing the use of military force or the introduction of 
     United States forces into hostilities.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I know of no further debate on the resolution, as 
amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  Hearing none, the question is on agreeing to the resolution, as 
amended.
  The resolution (S. Res. 669), as amended, was agreed to.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble, as amended, be 
agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid 
upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble in the nature of a 
substitute was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.

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