[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 21, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H2208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      GLOBAL REPORT ON FOOD CRISIS

  (Mr. Magaziner of Rhode Island was recognized to address the House 
for 5 minutes.)
  Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the 13th time to call 
for the Trump administration to restore funding for lifesaving food aid 
for malnourished children across the world.
  Every 7 seconds a child in this world dies of malnutrition, of 
starvation, needlessly and unnecessarily. For decades, the United 
States has saved lives, particularly by providing funding for ready-to-
use therapeutic food, also known as Plumpy'Nut. This is a miracle 
treatment. This is a peanut-based paste that treats malnutrition, 
doesn't need to be refrigerated, and can be shipped around the world. 
You don't need to add water, and it saves the lives of children.
  Edesia Nutrition in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, is one of the 
factories that produces Plumpy'Nut. From that factory alone, over the 
last decade, 25 million children have been saved with this treatment.
  Funding was cut off at the beginning of the Trump administration 
under the so-called DOGE initiative, and every day that this product 
sits in warehouses in Rhode Island is a day that children around the 
world are unnecessarily dying.
  Now, the good news is that Elon Musk, Marco Rubio, and others have 
said that this funding will be restored. In fact, just yesterday, at 
his Senate hearing, Secretary Rubio said again that essential 
humanitarian aid, he meant food aid, will be continued. So do it 
already.
  It is good that the administration is saying that they intend to 
continue providing this aid around the world, but they need to do it. 
Again, there are thousands of boxes of this ready-to-use food sitting 
in warehouses here in the United States that should be getting to the 
children who need it.
  Every day that the United States fails to provide this aid is a day 
that China and our other adversaries have an opportunity to step into 
the void and earn goodwill around the world.
  As the Secretary pointed out yesterday--and Secretary Rubio said 
this--China's generosity is not free. China's generosity comes with a 
price. It comes with a price of subservience and dependency on the 
Chinese Communist Party. That is not what we want.
  We want the developing world to be allied with the United States, for 
our own reasons: so that we can have access to critical minerals, so 
that we can have access to intelligence, and so that we can beat back 
terrorist organizations that would otherwise threaten U.S. interests.
  We want the goodwill of the developing world, and we can maintain 
that goodwill by continuing our commitment to doing our part to end 
global hunger with U.S.-produced products, sourced from U.S. farmers, 
manufactured in U.S. factories that help build U.S. goodwill around the 
world.
  That is what we want to continue. We do not want to give an 
opportunity to China or anybody else to fill the void that is being 
created right now.
  The Global Report on Food Crises published last Friday by the U.N. 
confirms what we have been warning. The number of people facing famine 
has more than doubled in the last year. Malnutrition globally is on the 
rise. This is a global emergency, one that the United States has the 
greatest capacity to help solve.
  The burden should not and cannot fall entirely on us, but leadership 
comes with a responsibility. We have the responsibility to continue to 
do our part. The moment is calling us.
  Once again, I will rise in this Chamber every single day until the 
administration does what it says it is going to do and continues 
funding ready-to-use therapeutic food.
  I am not asking the administration to change their policy. We are 
asking them to just execute on their stated policy, and do what they 
said they were going to do, which is: Continue the funding. Resume the 
flow of aid. Save the lives of malnourished children around the world, 
and strengthen America in the process.

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