[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16141-16144]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   TEMPORARY AUTHORITY FOR CONGRESSIONAL HUNGER CENTER TO AWARD BILL 
              EMERSON AND MICKEY LELAND HUNGER FELLOWSHIPS

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2474) to require that funds made available for fiscal years 
2003 and 2004 for the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships 
be administered through the Congressional Hunger Center, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2474

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. TEMPORARY AUTHORITY FOR CONGRESSIONAL HUNGER 
                   CENTER TO AWARD BILL EMERSON AND MICKEY LELAND 
                   HUNGER FELLOWSHIPS.

       Notwithstanding the Congressional Hunger Fellows Act of 
     2002 (section 4404 of Public Law 107-171; 2 U.S.C. 1161), 
     funds appropriated for fiscal years 2003 and 2004 for the 
     purpose of providing the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland 
     Hunger Fellowships shall be made available to the 
     Congressional Hunger Center for the purpose of awarding the 
     fellowships, except that any such funds provided in excess of 
     $3,000,000 in fiscal year 2003 or $3,000,000 in fiscal year 
     2004 shall be appropriated to the Congressional Hunger 
     Fellows Trust Fund established by such Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).

[[Page 16142]]


  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I rise in support of H.R. 2474, a bill that provides for 
the continuation, for 2003 and 2004, of a fellowship program honoring 
our colleagues, the Honorable Bill Emerson and the Honorable Mickey 
Leland.
  Last year, Congress authorized the Congressional Hunger Fellows 
Program as a part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 
2002. This provision was included in both the Committee on Agriculture 
bill and the law as a memorial to the Honorable Bill Emerson, a former 
member of the Committee on Agriculture, and the Honorable Mickey 
Leland. The purpose of the fellowships is to develop and train future 
leaders of the United States in humanitarian service.
  The law establishes an independent agency in the legislative branch 
of the U.S. Government, creates a board of trustees to supervise and 
direct the program, establishes a Congressional Hunger Fellows trust 
fund in the Department of the Treasury that will provide funds from the 
interest to help run the program, and authorizes $18 million for the 
fund.
  While the necessary process to establish a congressional Hunger 
Fellows Program has begun, the process is not complete. H.R. 2474 
allows the current process to continue utilizing the Congressional 
Hunger Center just until the program authorized by the farm bill is 
completed. These fellowships provide a way to continue the legacy 
established by our former colleagues Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland and 
move towards achieving the valued goal of training future leaders of 
the United States in humanitarian service, goals I know Members share 
with me.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the wife of the late 
Congressman Bill Emerson, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), 
and his successor, for introducing this legislation; and I urge my 
colleagues to support H.R. 2474.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such times as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2474, which requires that 
funds made available for the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship 
and the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowships are to be 
awarded through the Congressional Hunger Center. This piece of 
legislation is needed to ensure that funds already appropriated to 
provide hunger fellowships in the fiscal year 2003 are able to be used 
for that purpose. In addition, it will ensure that funds made available 
in fiscal year 2004 are also available for these fellowships.
  In the farm bill, we created the Congressional Fellows Hunger Act of 
2002, which authorizes $18 million to a trust to be used as an 
endowment to provide domestic and international hunger fellowships. The 
program is overseen by a board of trustees, which only recently was 
appointed. Because of the time needed to establish the program as 
envisioned by the authorizing language, the funds provided for the 
fellowships in the fiscal year 2003 agricultural appropriations act are 
not available. This bill will allow those funds to be used by the 
Congressional Hunger Center for hunger fellowships.
  The Congressional Hunger Center was formed in 1993 with a mandate to 
lead, speak, and act on behalf of the poor, the hungry, and the victims 
of humanitarian emergencies both on a domestic and international level. 
The Congressional Hunger Center, through its leadership development 
programs and its education, research, and advocacy programs has, as of 
2002, graduated over 500 antihunger leaders who address hunger at the 
community, national, and international levels.
  The fellowships originally awarded by the Congressional Hunger Center 
and codified in the Congressional Fellows Hunger Act of 2002 were 
designed, as we have heard, to honor the memories of Bill Emerson and 
Mickey Leland, who, during their careers in public service, were deeply 
interested in helping those in need by their words and by their 
actions. Bill Emerson, the distinguished late Representative from the 
eighth district of Missouri, and George T. Mickey Leland, the 
distinguished late Representative from the 18th district of Texas 
demonstrated their commitment to solving the problem of hunger in a 
bipartisan manner.
  Providing the $3 million in funding to the Congressional Hunger 
Center for fiscal years 2003 and 2004 will ensure that the spirit of 
these two leaders will live on through the fellowships by making sure 
that there will be a future generation of leaders who will pursue 
careers in humanitarian service related to hunger.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
to thank the gentleman from Texas for his support and leadership on 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman 
from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), who has carried on the fight against 
hunger here in the United States and around the world that her late 
husband, Bill Emerson, was so well noted for. I thank her for that 
work.
  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Goodlatte) for yielding me this time and for the graciousness which he 
has shown, as well as that of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), 
in allowing us to make the corrections on the legislation that will 
permit the Hunger Fellows to proceed with the remarkable work that they 
do.
  I also want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), because 
this bill also goes through IR, and I want to thank Kevin Kramp and 
Lynn Gallagher from the Committee on Agriculture, and Frank Record from 
the Committee on International Relations, because without their great 
assistance we would not be here today.
  I also want to thank both the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) 
and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for the wonderful words 
they had to say about my late husband, Bill Emerson, and the commitment 
he had throughout his lifetime to prevent hunger wherever it is found.
  Mr. Speaker, passage of this bill is critical for the future of the 
Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships. The funding for the 
24 Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows and the 50 Mickey Leland 
International Hunger Fellows will expire, as my colleagues have said, 
unless this legislation passes.
  These 39 Fellows fight hunger and poverty worldwide. They each earn 
just $10,000 helping nutritionally vulnerable populations in urban and 
rural communities get food. For example, the Emerson Fellows assist 
low-income communities in getting access to fresh fruits and 
vegetables, as well as helping to do the same for Federal nutrition 
programs for school-aged children and the elderly. The Leland Fellows 
work with national and international agencies and faith-based groups to 
get school lunches to over 300 million children overseas.
  In their work, the Fellows are constantly faced with things that we 
do not normally see on a daily basis, threats of terrorism, crime, 
AIDS, and, most recently, SARS, while helping the communities in which 
they are living formulate solutions to ending hunger and poverty.
  For the past 3 years, many may know that agricultural appropriations 
and private foundations have funded the Emerson-Leland Fellows through 
the Congressional Hunger Center. As my colleagues have mentioned, the 
farm bill did authorize an endowment for the Congressional Hunger 
Fellows program, which incorporated the current Fellows program 
operated by the Congressional Hunger Center. But because operating 
funds for the endowment are not yet in place, the Congressional Hunger 
Center is left without operating funds to recruit for their future 
classes. This legislation will allow the program to continue while we 
establish the endowment.
  So, again, I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Goodlatte), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), and my good colleague, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), who helps co-chair the Congressional 
Hunger Center,

[[Page 16143]]

for all the work that they do in helping a problem that should not 
exist but, sadly, it does, and, hopefully, one day soon, we will find a 
means to make certain that no person on Earth goes hungry.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Texas for yielding me this time, and I also applaud his incredible work 
on behalf of the hungry around the world and here in the United States. 
I also want to thank the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from 
Virginia, for bringing this bill so quickly to the House floor for 
consideration.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2474, authorizing the Bill 
Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships and urge its swift passage 
by this House. I want to acknowledge the leadership of my friend and 
colleague, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), and to thank 
her for her many contributions to ending hunger here at home and 
abroad. She has honored the memory of her husband and our former 
colleague, Bill Emerson, in whose honor the National Hunger Fellowships 
at the Congressional Hunger Center are named.
  I have had the privilege of working closely with the gentlewoman from 
Missouri over the past few years, first when we helped create the 
Global Food for Education Initiative, known as the George McGovern-
Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition 
Program, and now when we serve together as the cochairs of the 
Congressional Hunger Center. I admire her leadership and determination, 
and I hope to learn a great deal more from her about how best to end 
hunger, honor America's farmers, and contribute to increasing food 
security for all nations.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2474 will correct a simple error in last year's 
farm bill reauthorization that authorized funding for the Bill Emerson 
and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships, but inadvertently channeled the 
monies to the Congressional Hunger Center's endowment rather than 
through the Center's program budget. Passage of H.R. 2474 will ensure 
that the two fellowship programs are administered and funded through 
the Congressional Hunger Center for fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 
2004.

                              {time}  1100

  This adjustment will allow for the endowment to have enough time to 
build so it may sustain funding for the Congressional Hunger Center 
over the long term without interrupting the Bill Emerson and Mickey 
Leland Hunger Fellowships program in the short term. I also thank the 
gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), the gentleman from Texas 
(Chairman Bonilla), and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the 
ranking member on the subcommittee for agricultural appropriations, for 
including the appropriate allocations for these hunger fellowships in 
the fiscal year 2004 agriculture appropriations bill. I also would like 
to express my appreciation to Jim Dyer, the majority staff director for 
the Committee on Appropriations, for his help and support on this 
matter.
  Mr. Speaker, today I have had the privilege of meeting the newest 
class of Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows who are in 
Washington for their initial orientation. The Congressional Hunger 
Center received 155 applicants for these fellowships, which were 
narrowed to 50 finalists, and 15 young men and women were chosen to 
receive these fellowships.
  The Leland Fellows will work for 2 years on hunger issues, including 
a 1-year field placement in countries throughout South Asia, sub-
Saharan Africa and Latin America. The class of 2003-2005 will work in 
Thailand, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Indonesia, 
Guatemala, Bangladesh, Mexico, Mauritania, and in East Africa. Their 
field placements include national and international nongovernmental 
organizations, private commercial organizations, and bilateral and 
multilateral agencies. They will spend their second year in the 
headquarters of the organizations that sponsor their field placements 
where they will focus on policy-making to address the root causes of 
hunger.
  I know that our friend and former colleague, Mickey Leland, is 
looking down on these dedicated young people and is proud that the work 
they are doing in his name will create future leaders in the fight on 
hunger and poverty.
  The Bill Emerson National Hunger fellows Program annually selects 
around 20 participants who work for 6 months in rural and urban 
community-based organizations across the country involved in fighting 
hunger at the local level. Their 6 months is spent in national 
nonprofit organizations engaged at the national level in antihunger and 
antipoverty work. This year, 24 men and women will represent the 10th 
class of Emerson Fellows.
  Together, these two hunger fellowship programs, administered and 
coordinated by the Congressional Hunger Center, are having a 
significant impact on the fight to end hunger in America and around the 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Wolf) and our former colleague Tony Hall, who were instrumental in 
establishing the center 10 years ago. Congress can take great pride in 
the support for the Congressional Hunger Center and the Bill Emerson 
and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowship programs. I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 2474.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It is a good program. It has the 
kind of leadership and oversight from the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. McGovern) and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson) that we 
in Congress appreciate very much. I urge support of the bill. I thank 
the chairman for his leadership in this endeavor.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2474. The 
Congressional Hunger Center was established 10 years ago with a mission 
of fighting hunger by developing leaders. They have been doing that 
ever since.
  When I think of the Congressional Hunger Center, I think of my good 
friend Ambassador Tony Hall. It was Tony who first got me involved in 
fighting hunger. In 1984, he persistently encouraged me to travel to 
the Horn of Africa to witness the devastation of the famine. As many of 
you know, that experience changed my life.
  Many of the Congressional Hunger Center fellows are having similar 
experiences right now. There are Bill Emerson fellows who are having 
life-changing experiences in 12 locations across the country and Leland 
International Fellows in 15 locations throughout the world. The 
combination of the life-changing practical and the policy experiences 
will equip these young people to be active leaders on hunger issues 
wherever they may go.
  One of the program's most committed international fellows is Robert 
Oliver Davila. Robert was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa for three 
years. He joined the first class of international fellows after being a 
manager at the Worcester County Food Bank. Robert visited schools all 
over Ethiopia helping them implement the World Food Programme Global 
School Lunch Program. Robert monitored and evaluated the impact of the 
program on the lives of children, families and communities. Robert is 
now working with the Global School Feeding Support Unit in the Strategy 
and Policy Division of the World Food Programme.
  Sarah Boron, from Dennison University in Ohio, helped develop a model 
to assess food and farm issues at Food for Lane County in Eugene, 
Oregon. Sarah is now helping local groups form food policy councils 
through the Community Food Security Coalition.
  Many of us who have supported the Congressional Hunger Center over 
the years have maintained a vision of self-sufficiency for the 
organization in the future. As some of you know, Congress has been 
providing the bulk of the Hunger Center's operating budget each year 
through annual appropriations. Last year, the dream of self-sufficiency 
came closer to being a reality.
  In the 2002 Farm Bill, Congress authorized an endowment to move the 
Hunger Center's fellows programs toward self-sufficiency. 
Unfortunately, when the appropriations committee provided funding for 
the newly authorized endowment, the Congressional Hunger Center was not 
able to access any funds for operating the fellows program.

[[Page 16144]]

  H.R. 2474 will allow the Congressional Hunger Center to access the 
funds it needs to operate the fellows program, equipping people like 
Roger and Sarah to become leaders in fighting hunger. Equally 
important, this legislation does not detract from the vision of an 
endowment that allows the fellows program to operate self-sufficiently.
  In closing Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this 
legislation, which makes the technical corrections necessary to allow 
the Congressional Hunger Center fellows program to continue 
uninterrupted, growing leaders to fight hunger around the world.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 2474 requesting that funds be made available for fiscal years 2003 
and 2004 for the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships to 
be administered through the Congressional Hunger Center.
  The Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Fellowships provide an opportunity 
for young people to invest their time, energy, and dedication to the 
cause of fighting hunger around the world. The fellowship was 
established in memory of the outstanding contributions of the Honorable 
Bill Emerson and the Honorable Mickey Leland both of whom were former 
members of Congress.
  Each year approximately twenty participants are selected to 
participate in the highly selective Emerson and Leland Fellowship 
program. The fellows spend the first six months of their internship 
working on local level hunger issues, primarily through community food 
banks and local advocacy initiatives. The fellows then spend another 
six months in Washington, D.C. working with national organizations 
involved in the anti-hunger and poverty movement. This unique and 
challenging opportunity embodies the ideals and legacy of both Mr. 
Leland and Mr. Emerson.
  Mickey Leland in addition to serving as a respected representative of 
the 18th Congressional District in Texas, Mr. Leland also served as a 
renowned yet humble humanitarian bringing both national and 
international attention to several causes including hunger and famine. 
With a ``heart as big as Texas'', Mickey Leland served as an active 
voice for social change. I am proud to follow him as a representative 
of the 18th District. And Bill Emerson over the span of five decades, 
contributed significantly to the strengthening of U.S. public policy 
and the process to achieve common sense solutions to legitimate real 
world problems, namely hunger. Thus the Emerson/Leland Fellowships 
provide an opportunity for young people to continue in the footsteps of 
these revered statesmen.
  Therefore, it is in the spirit of the work of both Mickey Leland and 
Bill Emerson that this Congress would like to administer funds secured 
from the 2003 and 2004 fiscal years for the Emerson/Leland Fellowship 
through the Congressional Hunger Center. The Congressional Hunger 
Center is a unique non-profit, anti-hunger leadership organization. The 
mission of the center is to train and develop individuals who feel they 
can serve in either a domestic and/or international capacity to become 
leaders in the fight against hunger and effectively bridge the gap 
between service and public policy. The Congressional Hunger Center 
serves as a lasting tribute to all those who work to eradicate hunger 
but especially Mickey Leland, who was one of the Center's founding 
members. As such, it seems only natural that the Emerson/Leland 
Fellowship Program receives its funding through the Congressional 
Hunger Center.
  Mickey Leland once said: ``I cannot get used to hunger and desperate 
poverty in our plentiful land. There is no reason for it, there is no 
excuse for it, and it is time that we as a nation put an end to it.'' 
And while we cannot easily put an end to hunger, we can certainly do 
our part both individually and collectively to take an active role in 
helping to increase awareness and action around global hunger.
  Therefore, I stand in full support of H.R. 2474 and hope that my 
Congressional colleagues will also express their support for this 
resolution as well.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2474, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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