HR 1700 IH

To establish an international food for education and infant and child nutrition program to be carried out under section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949.

May 3, 2001

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Hall of Ohio, Mr. Johnson of Illinois, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Leach, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Thune, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Green of Wisconsin, Mr. Barrett, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

To establish an international food for education and infant and child nutrition program to be carried out under section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, `The State of Food and Agriculture 1998', approximately 828,000,000 people are chronically undernourished in the world today. While no region is immune to hunger, the vast majority of these people live in 87 low-income, food-deficit countries.

(2) Many of the world's hungry are children, approximately 300,000,000. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, `State of the World's Children 2001', states that 32 percent of the world's children under five years of age--approximately 193,000,000--have stunted growth, which is the key indicator for under-nutrition. Hunger in the early stages of development is particularly debilitating. As reported by UNICEF, optimal neural development in a child, which affects physical, mental, and cognitive development, depends on good nutrition and stimulation during the first months and years of life.

(3) The causes of hunger are complex, but are most often associated with poverty and lack of empowerment. In developing countries, where poverty is endemic, governments face low revenues and high debt burdens, funding is inadequate for basic health and education, agricultural productivity and marketing systems are weak and under-performing, employment opportunities are lacking, public institutions are often weak, in some countries, HIV/AIDS is pandemic, and many people struggle just to meet their basic needs.

(4) Poor children rarely receive adequate education. UNICEF reports that more than 130,000,000 primary-school-age children in developing countries do not go to school, and 60 percent of these children are girls. In 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported that for developing countries, an estimated 250,000,000 children from ages five to fourteen are laborers, and fifty percent work full time. Lack of education and the resulting poor literacy limit the growth potential of children. Education develops cognitive skills, improves long-term productivity and offers a child protection from the hazards of labor or exploitation. Long-term studies indicate that increased literacy rates are critical to economic development. In countries that achieve an 80 percent or better literacy rate among girls and women, the birthrate decreases.

(5)(A) Food aid has been shown to have lasting benefits for children in developing countries when part of multi-faceted programs aimed at pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants and children five years and younger.

(B) Mother-child health (MCH) programs reduce the incidence of malnutrition and under-nutrition and promote proper growth by providing supplemental food to pregnant women and nursing mothers, along with nutritious take-home foods and health care to mothers and children under the age of two.

(C) Early childhood development programs provide children between the ages of three and six with meals and training in basic skills, while mothers learn about basic sanitation, first aid and respiratory and diarrheal diseases, the greatest killers of young children in poor countries.

(D) Food for Education programs reduce the incidence of hunger and enhance educational attendance and performance by providing school meals or

take-home rations, along with improvements in educational quality and the school environment.

(E) Although the conditions and challenges in developing countries differ greatly from those in the United States, these international food aid programs are similar in concept to the women, infants and children (WIC) program, the Head Start program, and the school breakfast and school lunch programs in the United States.

(6) Over the past 50 years, United States international food assistance has contributed to alleviating hunger and its causes and is an integral part of United States foreign policy. From the Marshall Plan to the establishment in 1954 of the Food for Peace program (or Public Law 480) and the Food for Progress Act of 1985, American farmers have played a key role in ensuring that the United States is able to respond to emergencies such as famine, natural disasters, and war, and to contribute to global development initiatives. These programs continue because food is greatly needed in poor countries that cannot produce or afford to import adequate amounts of food to meet their minimal needs.

(7) 7,900,000 metric tons of agricultural commodities, worth $1,500,000,000 in commodity purchases, were approved during fiscal year 2000 to provide food aid to 91 countries, as authorized under section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, the Food for Progress Program, and Public Law 480. Programs were implemented in the field by nongovernmental and private voluntary organizations, cooperatives, the United Nations World Food Program, and governments.

(8) American farmers benefit directly from food aid programs by selling commodities for international development and hunger programs. In the longer term, the economic uplift from food aid programs improves the living standards and purchasing power of citizens in developing countries, expanding markets for American agricultural products, goods, and services.

(9) Two of the most successful and beneficial bipartisan programs ever launched on behalf of children in the United States have been the United States school lunch and school breakfast programs, and the women, infants, and children (WIC) program. While hunger among children has not yet been eradicated in the United States, over the past 22 years, America has provided a nutritious meal to most students who cannot afford one. Currently, about 27,000,000 children are fed every day through these programs.

(10) On May 30, 2000, during the opening ceremonies of the National Nutrition Summit, Senators George McGovern and Robert Dole praised the Federal Government for reducing hunger in America since 1969. They called upon the United States Government to reduce hunger in the developing world through child nutrition programs similar to the United States school lunch, school breakfast, and WIC programs.

(11) On July 23, 2000, the G-8 Summit in Okinawa, Japan, endorsed a proposal put forward by the United States, the Global Food for Education Initiative, to pursue a pilot preschool and school feeding program.

(12) On December 28, 2000, in addition to other international food aid program commitments, the United States launched a $300,000,000 pilot program, the Global Food for Education Initiative, through the United States Department of Agriculture, to provide meals, take-home rations, and other assistance to an estimated 9,000,000 needy pre-school and school-age children in 38 countries. Using authority under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, food commodities will be purchased from American farmers by the United States Department of Agriculture, which will be distributed in fiscal year 2001 through 49 projects developed by United States-based private voluntary organizations and cooperatives, and by the United Nations World Food Program. Senators McGovern and Dole urged the United States Congress to make this a permanently funded program and to engage the international community in a multilateral effort to end child hunger over the next three decades.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

The Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the `Secretary') shall, using the authority of section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as `section 416(b)') and in accordance with this Act, provide eligible commodities and financial and technical assistance to establish, continue, and expand--

(1) preschool and school feeding programs to improve food security, reduce the incidence of hunger, and improve educational opportunity; and

(2) maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children 5 years of age and younger.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE COMMODITIES AND COST ITEMS.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law--

(1) any agricultural commodity is eligible for distribution under this Act;

(2) the Commodity Credit Corporation shall purchase agricultural commodities for use under this Act if its stocks are not sufficient to meet commitments entered into under this Act; and

(3) as necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act, the Secretary--

(A) shall approve the use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to pay the transportation costs incurred in moving commodities (including prepositioned commodities) provided under this Act from the designated points of entry or ports of entry abroad to storage and distribution sites, and associated storage and distribution costs;

(B) shall approve the use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to pay the costs of activities conducted in the host country by a nonprofit voluntary organization, cooperative, or

intergovernmental agency or organization that would enhance the effectiveness of the activities implemented by such entities under this Act; and

(C) in the case of administrative expenses of private voluntary organizations, cooperatives, or intergovernmental organizations implementing activities under this Act, shall approve the use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to meet itemized administrative expenses incurred in connection with activities carried out under this Act; and

(4) for the purposes of this Act, the term `agricultural commodities' includes any agricultural commodity, or the products thereof, produced in the United States.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.

The Secretary may provide assistance under this Act to private voluntary organizations, cooperatives, intergovernmental organizations, governments and their agencies, and such other organizations as the Secretary determines are appropriate.

SEC. 6. RULES BY SECRETARY.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall assure that rules governing this Act shall include provisions to--

(1) provide for the submission of proposals, each of which may include one or more countries, for commodities and other assistance under this Act;

(2) provide for eligible commodities and assistance on a multi-year basis;

(3) ensure eligible recipients demonstrate the organizational capacity and the ability to develop, implement, monitor, report on, and provide accountability for activities conducted under this Act;

(4) streamline procedures for the development, review, and approval of proposals submitted in accordance with this Act;

(5) ensure monitoring and reporting by eligible recipients on the use of commodities and other assistance provided under this Act; and

(6) allow for the sale or barter of commodities by eligible organizations to acquire funds to implement activities that improve the food security of women and children or otherwise enhance the effectiveness of programs and activities authorized under this Act.

(b) PRIORITIES FOR PROGRAM FUNDING- In carrying out subsection (a) with respect to criteria for determining the use of commodities and other assistance provided for programs and activities authorized under this Act, the Secretary shall consider the ability of eligible recipients to--

(1) identify and assess the needs of beneficiaries, especially mothers and children five years of age and younger who are malnourished or under-nourished, and school-age children who are malnourished, under-nourished, or do not regularly attend school;

(2)(A) in the case of preschool and school-age children, target low-income areas where children's enrollment and attendance in school is low or girls' enrollment and participation in preschool or school is particularly low; and

(B) in the case of programs to benefit mothers and children five years of age or younger, coordinate supplementary feeding and nutrition programs with existing or newly-established maternal, infant, and children programs that provide health needs interventions, and which may include maternal, prenatal, and postnatal and newborn care;

(3) involve indigenous institutions and communities in the development and implementation of the program and foster local capacity-building and leadership; and

(4) carry out multi-year programs that foster self-sufficiency and ensure program longevity.

SEC. 7. USE OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE.

The Food and Nutrition service of the Department of Agriculture shall provide technical advice on the establishment of programs under section 3(1) and on their implementation in the field in recipient countries.

SEC. 8. MULTILATERAL INVOLVEMENT.

The President is urged to endeavor to engage existing international food aid coordinating mechanisms to ensure multilateral commitments to and participation in programs like those supported under this Act. The President shall report annually to Congress on the commitments and activities of governments in the global effort to reduce child hunger and increase school attendance.

SEC. 9. PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT.

The President and the Secretary are urged to encourage the support and active involvement of the private sector, foundations, and other individuals and organizations in programs assisted under this Act.

SEC. 10. FUNDING LEVELS.

The Commodity Credit Corporation shall make available to carry out programs under this Act--

(1) in fiscal 2002, $300,000,000 and in fiscal year 2003, $600,000,000 for programs under section 3(1) and $50,000,000 in fiscal year 2002 and in fiscal year 2003, $100,000,000 for programs under section 3(2); and

(2) in each succeeding fiscal year $750,000,000 for programs under section 3(1) and $250,000,000 for programs under section 3(2).

SEC. 11. COOPERATION WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

Notwithstanding section 11 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714i), the Secretary may approve the use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to pay administrative expenses of any other agency of the Federal Government, including any bureau, office, administration, or agency of the Department of Agriculture, assisting in the implementation of this Act.

SEC. 12. REQUIREMENT TO SAFEGUARD LOCAL PRODUCTION AND USUAL MARKETING.

The requirement of section 403(a) of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1733(a) and 1733(h)) shall apply with respect to the availability of commodities under this Act.

END