[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13625-13627]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of Calendar No. 86, S. Con. Res. 53.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 53) encouraging the 
     development of strategies to reduce hunger and poverty, and 
     to promote free market economies and democratic institutions, 
     in sub-Saharan Africa.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate will 
unanimously pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 53: Africa Hunger to 
Harvest. I became a cosponsor of the resolution because I strongly 
believe that it is an important first step towards a renewed commitment 
to acting in concert with our African partners to significantly reduce 
poverty and hunger on the sub-continent in the next ten years. I saw to 
it that the resolution moved out of the Foreign Relations Committee 
expeditiously because I wanted this legislation to pass with all due 
haste. As you know, the G-8 members are preparing for their meeting in 
Genoa. I hope that President Bush will interpret the passage of Africa: 
Hunger to Harvest as a signal of the Senate's support for development 
in Africa, and obtain commitments from other members of the G-8 to 
devise comprehensive plans to increase the ability of African nations 
to feed their people.
  Sub-Saharan Africa is a region with vast human and economic 
potential. There is a preponderance of natural resources, and a large 
enough population to provide the labor necessary to fuel industry. Yet 
Africa, for the most part, has not prospered. It is the only region of 
the world where hunger is increasing. In the past thirty years the 
number of hungry people in Africa has more than doubled to the point 
where one of every three Africans is chronically undernourished. There 
are many reasons why: war, natural disaster, corruption, and poor 
governance, to name a few. And while African themselves must take 
ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of their countries, 
we have the resources and opportunity to help improve the lives of 
millions of people living there.
  This resolution lays out a preliminary blueprint for doing so. It 
directs the Agency for International Development to devise solid, 
concrete five- and ten-year strategic plans to help Africans reverse 
the current state of affairs for many living in the region, and asks 
that the plans focus on such key areas as the establishment of 
democratic institutions, private sector and free market development, 
access to education, improved health, and debt relief. The blueprint 
itself acknowledges that hunger and poverty must be attached along 
these critical fronts to be eliminated.
  A necessary component to achieving development is stability in the 
region, but stability alone will not result in economic growth and 
improved living conditions. The establishment of the rule of law and 
democratic institutions is also necessary. Africans must have a say in 
the structure of their societies. They must be able to find a remedy 
through courts, they must have rules and regulations in place that 
provide an atmosphere of accountability. They must be able to put 
leaders in place that are dedicated and capable of imposing sound 
fiscal and economic policies. Leaders that work for the African

[[Page 13626]]

people. That is why an emphasis on building democratic institutions is 
an essential building block in any plan to help improve conditions in 
African countries. Establishing institutions, accountability and rule 
of law helps establish favorable conditions for investment in the 
private sector.
  Such investment is supported by increased opportunities for 
education, especially for women and girls. Education must be an 
integral part of this undertaking. While the illiteracy rate for women 
in the developing world stands at 32 percent, in Africa it is 
approaching 48 percent. In other words nearly half the women in Sub-
Saharan Africa are completely illiterate, according to the World Bank. 
This has very serious and costly implications. Women with more 
education have fewer children, and start families later. Great 
education increase a mother's knowledge about child healthcare, which 
increases the chances that their offspring will grow to adulthood. 
Having fewer children frees more resources to educate the children 
families do have. The illiteracy rate for man and Africa is just as 
startling: 31.1. percent compared to 18 percent in the rest of the 
developing world. Economic growth is nearly impossible without 
investment in human capitol. We must work to change this state of 
affairs.
  Health indicators are equally alarming. The infant mortality rate in 
Sub-Saharan Africa is higher than in any other region of the world. For 
every 1000 children born, 107 die in infancy. The under five mortality 
rate is 160 for every child born. This rate is significantly lower than 
it is in the rest of the developing world. Life expectancy for women 
fortunate enough to survive childhood is less than 48 years. Men who 
survive childhood live just shy of 46 years on average.
  Seventy percent of those living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan 
Africa. The UN Human Development Report states that Rwanda, Botswana, 
Burundi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe life expectancy has dropped more 
than seven years because of the disease. It knows no boundaries of 
income or education or occupation. Teacher and soldiers as well as mine 
workers and women who work in the house are equally at risk. While 
there are a few notable exceptions, it seems as through African heads 
of state are just now beginning to realize that they cannot hold their 
heads in the sand with respect to this issue. We must help and 
encourage them to not only devise credible plans to combat the spread 
of the disease, but to speak out about it.
  All of the above emphasizes the fact that development in the health 
sector must be addressed as part of the USAID's strategic plans on 
humanitarian grounds and economic grounds. If we fail to do so, we risk 
losing a huge portion of the population of African countries, both in 
infancy due to childhood maladies and between the ages of 15 and 49, 
which is the bulk of the working population.
  Finally, let me say that while we have made great strides on the 
issue of debt relief, we need to continue our efforts. Many countries 
will continue to have unsustainable levels of debt despite the advances 
that were made by the global ecumenical debt relief movement. Debt 
relief has positive results. In Uganda, for example, debt relief has 
meant that the government has increased spending on education so that 
children are able to attend primary school for free. New ways must be 
found to provide resources for countries where the poorest of the poor 
residents reside.
  A reversal of fortune for the region is sorely needed. The rest of 
the world is leaving Africa behind in terms of economic development. It 
was the only region in the world to have experienced a shrinkage of 
Gross Domestic Product during the past 25 years. This trend must not 
continue. We have a lot of work ahead of us. The United States will 
never be able to help African nation feed their hungry populations 
without dedicating resources to implement plans which concentrate on 
the areas aforementioned. My colleagues have heard me say over and over 
again that we are not spending enough money on constructive foreign 
assistance programs such as the one set out in Senate Congressional 
Resolution 53. I repeat that admonition and add this: We can direct 
USAID to develop as many plans as we want to. At the end of the day, we 
must be willing to finance such plans. I stand ready to do so. I 
encourage my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. REID. I ask consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 53) was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 53

       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), 

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ``Hunger to 
     Harvest: Decade of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa 
     Resolution''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Despite some progress in recent years, sub-Saharan 
     Africa enters the new millennium with many of the world's 
     poorest countries and is the one region of the world where 
     hunger is both pervasive and increasing.
       (2) Thirty-three of the world's 41 poorest debtor countries 
     are in sub-Saharan Africa and an estimated 291,000,000 
     people, nearly one-half of sub-Saharan Africa's total 
     population, currently live in extreme poverty on less than $1 
     a day.
       (3) One in three people in sub-Saharan Africa is 
     chronically undernourished, double the number of three 
     decades ago. One child out of seven dies before the age of 
     five, and one-half of these deaths are due to malnutrition.
       (4) Sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the world most 
     affected by infectious disease, accounting for one-half of 
     the deaths worldwide from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, 
     cholera, and several other diseases.
       (5) Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70 percent of adults, and 
     80 percent of children, living with the HIV virus, and 75 
     percent of the people worldwide who have died of AIDS lived 
     in Africa.
       (6) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has erased many of the 
     development gains of the past generation in sub-Saharan 
     Africa and now threatens to undermine economic and social 
     progress for the next generation, with life expectancy in 
     parts of sub-Saharan Africa having already decreased by 10-20 
     years as a result of AIDS.
       (7) Despite these immense challenges, the number of sub-
     Saharan African countries that are moving toward open 
     economies and more accountable governments has increased, and 
     these countries are beginning to achieve local solutions to 
     their common problems.
       (8) To make lasting improvements in the lives of their 
     people, sub-Saharan Africa governments need support as they 
     act to solve conflicts, make critical investments in human 
     capacity and infrastructure, combat corruption, reform their 
     economies, stimulate trade and equitable economic growth, and 
     build democracy.
       (9) Despite sub-Saharan Africa's enormous development 
     challenges, United States companies hold approximately 
     $12,800,000,000 in investments in sub-Saharan Africa, greater 
     than United States investments in either the Middle East or 
     Eastern Europe, and total United States trade with sub-
     Saharan Africa currently exceeds that with all of the 
     independent states of the former Soviet Union, including the 
     Russian Federation. This economic relationship could be put 
     at risk unless additional public and private resources are 
     provided to combat poverty and promote equitable economic 
     growth in sub-Saharan Africa.
       (10) Bread for the World Institute calculates that the goal 
     of reducing world hunger by one-half by 2015 is achievable 
     through an increase of $4,000,000,000 in annual funding from 
     all donors for poverty-focused development. If the United 
     States were to shoulder one-fourth of this aid burden--
     approximately $1,000,000,000 a year--the cost to each United 
     States citizen would be one penny per day.
       (11) Failure to effectively address sub-Saharan Africa's 
     development needs could result in greater conflict and 
     increased poverty, heightening the prospect of humanitarian 
     intervention and potentially threatening a wide range of 
     United States interests in sub-Saharan Africa.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the years 2002 through 2012 should be declared ``A 
     Decade of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa'';
       (2) not later than 90 days after the date of adoption of 
     this concurrent resolution, the President should submit a 
     report to Congress setting forth a five-year strategy, and a 
     ten- year strategy, to achieve a reversal of current levels 
     of hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, including a 
     commitment to contribute an appropriate United States share 
     of increased bilateral and multilateral

[[Page 13627]]

     poverty-focused resources for sub-Saharan Africa, with an 
     emphasis on--
       (A) health, including efforts to prevent, treat, and 
     control HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases 
     that contribute to malnutrition and hunger, and to promote 
     maternal health and child survival;
       (B) education, with an emphasis on equal access to learning 
     for girls and women;
       (C) agriculture, including strengthening subsistence 
     agriculture as well as the ability to compete in global 
     agricultural markets, and investment in infrastructure and 
     rural development;
       (D) private sector and free market development, to bring 
     sub-Saharan Africa into the global ecomony, enable people to 
     purchase food, and make health and education investments 
     sustainable;
       (E) democratic institutions and the rule of law, including 
     strengthening civil society and independent judiciaries;
       (F) micro-finance development; and
       (G) debt relief that provides incentives for sub-Saharan 
     African countries to invest in poverty-focused development, 
     and to expand democratic participation, free markets, trade, 
     and investment;
       (3) the President should work with the heads of other donor 
     countries and sub-Saharan African countries, and with United 
     States and sub-Saharan African private and voluntary 
     organizations and other civic organizations, including faith-
     based organizations, to implement the strategies described in 
     paragraph (2);
       (4) Congress should undertake a multi-year commitment to 
     provide the resources to implement those strategies; and
       (5) 120 days after the date of adoption of this concurrent 
     resolution, and every year thereafter, the Administrator of 
     the United States Agency for International Development, in 
     consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal 
     departments and agencies, should submit to Congress a report 
     on the implementation of those strategies, including the 
     action taken under paragraph (3), describing--
       (A) the results of the implementation of those strategies 
     as of the date of the report, including the progress made and 
     any setbacks suffered;
       (B) impediments to, and opportunities for, future progress;
       (C) proposed changes to those strategies, if any; and
       (D) the role and extent of cooperation of the governments 
     of sub-Saharan countries and other donors, both public and 
     private, in combating poverty and promoting equitable 
     economic development.

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