[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 133 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5317-S5318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3554. Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. Schatz) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2296, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle A of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1210. PROHIBITION ON THE DESTRUCTION OF FOREIGN
ASSISTANCE PRODUCTS AND COMMODITIES.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Saving
Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Foreign assistance commodities, including food,
medicine, family planning products, and vaccines, provide
critical support to people who are recovering from the
aftermath of natural disasters, fleeing conflict or war,
residing in refugee camps, or living in developing
communities with limited access to health care.
(2) United States investments in global health bolster
economic growth for partner countries, produce returns on
investment for the United States economy, create an estimated
600,000 jobs in the United States, and generated an estimated
$104,000,000,000 in economic activity during the 15-year
period between 2007 and 2022.
(3) Reliable access to vaccines and medications, including
pre-exposure prophylaxis and antiretroviral drugs to prevent
the spread of HIV and vaccines to prevent the transmission of
communicable diseases such as polio and drug-resistant
tuberculosis, make everyone safer.
(4) United States food assistance benefits United States
farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses, while addressing
global food insecurity. United States farmers annually supply
an estimated 40 percent of all international food assistance,
which is valued at approximately $2,000,000,000.
(5) Greater access to family planning products and services
has the potential to prevent up to 30 percent of the 295,000
annual maternal deaths and save the lives of approximately
1,400,000 children who are younger than 5 years old.
(6) The voluntary destruction of foreign assistance
commodities intended for beneficiaries at risk of food
insecurity and famine, sexual violence, maternal and infant
death and disease is unethical and contrary to United States
interests and moral obligations.
(c) Prohibition.--Section 102 of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151-1) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``(18) Perishable and nonperishable foreign assistance
commodities and products, including medicine, vaccines,
medical devices, food and food commodities that are procured,
managed, controlled, or held in warehouses, ships, shipping
containers, or any other storage facility, by the United
States Government or by a foreign assistance implementing
partner of the United States Government shall be made
available to intended beneficiaries, including through
donation, for their intended purpose and before the date on
which such commodities and products spoil or expire.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(d)(1) In this subsection--
``(A) the term `appropriate congressional committees'
means--
``(i) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
``(ii) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
``(iii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
``(iv) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives; and
``(B) the term `commodity' means a product or commodity
referred to in subsection (b)(18).
``(2) If any commodity is in the possession or control of a
foreign assistance implementing partner of the United States,
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, as appropriate, shall release such funds as may
be necessary, on an expedited basis, to ensure the delivery
or donation of the commodity to intended beneficiaries before
the applicable spoilage or expiration date.
``(3) No commodity may be destroyed unless every effort has
been made to sell, donate, or otherwise make available the
commodity, whichever is more likely to ensure the commodity
will be received and utilized by its intended beneficiaries,
before the applicable spoilage or expiration date.
``(4)(A) Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of the Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act, and
annually
[[Page S5318]]
thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development and the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate,
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional
committees that describes any commodity that expired,
spoiled, or was destroyed without delivery to an intended
beneficiary.
``(B) The report required under subparagraph (A) shall
include, for each expired, spoiled, or destroyed commodity --
``(i) a description of all negotiations, planning, and
efforts to make the commodity available to intended
beneficiaries;
``(ii) the reason the commodity was not made available to
intended beneficiaries;
``(iii) the purpose of the commodity and the geographic
locations of all intended beneficiaries of such commodity;
``(iv) the procured and market value of the commodity; and
``(v) the cost incurred to destroy the commodity.''.
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