[Page: H6786]
---

   The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. KIRK). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. MCGOVERN) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.

   Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, over the past 5 weeks, discussions on how best to combat terrorism over the longer term have begun in the Congress and the Bush administration and in the international community.

   The terrible events of September 11 are bringing governments and people together to reflect not only on how to meet the immediate challenge of rooting out the terrorist leaders and destroying the al-Qaeda network, but also on how to eliminate poverty, hunger, ignorance and intolerance, which often breed despair, disaffection, and deep resentment. It is not enough to demonstrate what we are against. We need to be equally forceful in showing the world what we are for.

   Perhaps no one has articulated this longer term challenge better than Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair. Prime Minister Blair has called upon the international community to foster and use the ``power of a global community for good.''

   He stated that such a community would encourage political inclusion and democratic principles throughout the world. It would more than redouble efforts to find just and lasting solutions to the world's lingering conflicts, including the Middle East. It would pledge to the people of Afghanistan that the West will not just walk away, as we have before, at the end of this conflict, leaving unresolved the political, social, and economic crises that have worn down Afghanistan for more than 2 decades.

   Further, the international community should seize the moment as a new opportunity to tackle the serious problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, and intolerance that have plagued so much of the developing world. We should forge partnerships to bring greater social and economic opportunities to Africa and other regions of the world.

   This is an exciting agenda, one which will create a stronger international

[Page: H6787]

   Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak about one concrete action the Bush administration could take in order to create lasting good out of acts of such profound evil.

   Inspired by Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, a $300 million pilot program, the Global Food for Education Initiative, was launched last year to provide one nutritious meal each day in a school setting to nine million of the world's neediest children. Contracts to carry out 49 projects in 38 countries were awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme and experienced U.S. private voluntary organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE, Mercy Corps, Land O'Lakes, and Africare. About half of these projects are now underway, with the other half awaiting final clearance, including projects in Pakistan and Tajikistan.

   School feeding programs have proven that they attract more children to attend school and keep them there, especially girls. Education is a critical element in empowering women, regardless of race, religion, or class.

   Mr. Speaker, the administration should exercise its discretionary authority and announce immediately that it will continue the pilot program for a second year and expand the program to include additional school-feeding programs for the children of Afghanistan.

   The United States, so blessed with agricultural resources, should call upon other donor Nations to contribute to this global effort, not just with food, but also with resources to create and expand schools. In addition, health resources, such as deworming medicine, immunizations, clean water, and vitamins, could be provided by other Nations in coordination with these school meals.

   The international community, including the United States, has pledged to reduce by half the incidence of hunger in the world by the year 2015. Over the same period, we have stated our determination to provide universal education to all. The Global Food for Education Initiative is one concrete action the United States can take to achieve these goals.

   The gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. EMERSON) and I have introduced legislation, H.R. 1700, to establish and fund the Global Food for Education Initiative. The farm bill, recently passed by the House, authorizes the establishment of this program; and I am hopeful that the Senate will include funding for this program in its version of the farm bill.

   The administration, using its own discretionary authorities, can act now to continue and expand this program. I urge the White House, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of State to announce today the continuation of the Global Food for Education Initiative. I urge the President to reach out to our coalition partners and ask them to provide additional education and health resources.

   We can truly make a difference in the lives of the world's neediest children. All we need is the political will to make it happen.

   WASHINGTON, DC,

   September 27, 2001.
Hon. ANN M. VENEMAN,
Secretary of Agriculture, Jamie L. Whitten Building, Washington, DC.

   DEAR SECRETARY VENEMAN: We are writing to ask you to continue funding for the Global Food for Education Initiative (GFEI) for fiscal year 2002, using your authority under Section 416(b) of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Most of the projects initiated under this pilot program have operated for less than a full year, and some have not yet even been initiated. Clearly, the pilot program requires at least one more year of continued funding before evaluating how it has affected the incidence of child hunger, school enrollment and attendance, and the other indicators established by the USDA.

   We are proud to be working closely with former Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, who initially conceived this idea, to promote the pilot program and, hopefully, to establish it as a permanent program. It is critical that the GFEI pilot program not be abandoned at this very early stage. We fear that, were this program to abruptly end after so brief a venture, recipient countries and other donor nations might interpret this as a demonsration of U.S. disregard for the need to address the roots of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and intolerance. In these very difficult times, it is important that the United States continue to demonstrate its long-standing commitment to help better the condition of the world's neediest children and to share our prosperity with less fortunate peoples.

   Once again, we urge you to exercise your discretionary authority under Section 416(b) to continue the GFEI pilot program. We look forward to working with you and other members of the Administration to make the vision articulated by George McGovern and Bob Dole a reality.

   Sincerely,

--

   The Coalition in Support of the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Act,

   Washington, DC, October 3, 2001.
Hon. ANN M. VENEMAN,
Secretary of Agriculture, Jamie L. Whitten Building, Washington, DC.

   DEAR SECRETARY VENEMAN: Our coalition, comprised of members of the agriculture community, transportation sector, business associations, private voluntary organizations and international Food aid agencies, respectfully requests that you continue funding for the Global Food for Education Initiative for fiscal year 2002, using your authority under section 416(b) of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Most of the projects initiated under this pilot program have operated for less than a full year. Accordingly, there has not been ample time to evaluate changes in school enrollment, child nutrition and other potential indicators of the program's effectiveness.

   The importance and potential impact of the initiative is far-reaching. Over 300 million children are chronically undernourished in the world today and more than 130 million children do not attend school. By providing meals at schools, global school feeding programs help to alleviate hunger among school children and increase attendance rates by providing an incentive for families to send children to school. We are proud to be working closely with USDA to implement and support these programs.

   We fear that an abrupt end to this initiative will send a negative message to many countries, institutions and people involved in this effort. It is important that both developing and developed countries have confidence in our continued commitment to help better the conditions of the world's neediest children. The United States has a proud tradition of being the world's largest donor of food assistance. In these especially difficult times, it is important to continue that American tradition.

   Thank you for your consideration of this request and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Department of Agriculture in support of global school feeding programs.

   Sincerely,
American Soybean Association; American School Food Service Association; Archer Daniels Midland/ADM Milling Co.; Bartlett Grain Co.; California Farm Bureau; Cargill; Congressional Hunger Center; Cereal Food Processing Company; CHS Coops; Dry Bean Council; Friends of the World Food Program.
Land O'Lakes, Inc.; National Farmers Union; National Cooperative Business Association; North American Millers Association; Opportunities Industrialization Centers; International; Pacific Agribusiness; Port of Lake Charles; Siberia Project; US Dairy Export Council; USA Rice Federation.

   School Food Can Stem the Pangs of Poverty

   There are more than 300 million chronically hungry children in the world today who are condemned to lives of disease, illiteracy and, in many cases, physical deformity. Trapped in city slums, desolate villages, settlements and refugee camps, these children often live short lives of poverty and despair.

   At the United Nations Special Session on Children this week, participants will review the progress made over the past decade for the world's poor children and will try to agree on what needs to be done. At the first such session, held in 1990, heads of state adopted a set of goals that included to improve living conditions, to create more educational opportunities and to provide essential food to malnourished children.

   Unfortunately, 11 years later, only mixed results have been achieved. In a 141-page report the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, said that the progress has been offset by setbacks that are ``serious enough to threaten earlier gains.''

   Before we find ourselves 10 years on with similar disappointing results, I would like to urge this year's special session participants to commit to a simple and effective idea that, if fully implemented, would dramatically improve the lives of these impoverished children. That idea is a global school feeding program.

   Of the world's 300 million chronically hungry children, 170 million are often forced to learn on empty stomachs because they receive no food at school; 130 million don't attend class at all. More than 60 percent of these children are girls.

[Page: H6788]

   Many factors contribute to their hunger. Those who attend class often lack money to buy breakfast or lunch or must travel long distances to get to school, meaning they arrive hungry. Trying to learn on an empty stomach is nearly impossible.

   Children who don't go to school at all are usually involved in helping their families make a living. An education for these children is not an option.

   It is widely agreed that basic education is the best investment to improve the physical, social and economic conditions of the poor. A Unesco survey showed that in countries with an adult literacy rate of about 40 percent, gross national product per capita averaged $210 annually; in those countries with at least 80 percent literacy, GNP per capita was $1,000 and above.

   Education is particularly critical for women and girls. Research shows that girls who go to school marry later, practice greater restraint in spacing births and have an average of 50 percent fewer children. They are also more informed about health risks, like the AIDS virus, and can better protect themselves and their children.

   The catalyst for educating poor children is food. Research and decades of experience by aid agencies like the UN World Food Program show that school feeding can alleviate hunger, dramatically increase attendance and improve school performance. It also compensates poor parents for the loss of their children's labor while they attend class.

   Using food to attract poor children to school and to keep them there may seem like a surprisingly simple way to make an impact. And it is. For an average of just 19 cents per day, or 34 dollars annually, a child can be fed for 180 schooldays a year.

   Aid agencies have the expertise and global reach to make it happen. And donor governments are interested. Already, the U.S. Congress is contemplating a bill, endorsed by both former Republican Senator Bob Dole and me, which would commit the United States to an annual contribution toward a global program. I urge Congress and President George W. Bush to support this bill, and for other heads of state and leaders in the private sector and aid community to take up a similar commitment.

   This week's special session is the place to begin. A simple, focused and realistic plan of action could help resolve the two most devastating burdens that poor children must carry today: malnutrition and illiteracy. School feeding is the key.

--

   Mr. Blair's Vision

   The United States took the lead in the military strike yesterday, as it will take the lead in the broader offensive against terrorist networks. But the broad coalition supporting and participating in the offensive showed that this is not a fight of America against the world but of the world against lawlessness. Some nations may join in because they fear the terrorists, some, because they want to stay on America's good side. But most--the allies who will be valuable over time--join in because they understand the importance of the values that came under attack September 11.

   The spokesman for this most valued category is indisputably Tony Blair, the British prime minister. His government committed its forces to the armed campaign that began yesterday. He had credibly presented to the world the most cogent outline of the evidence against Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network. He had personally carried the diplomatic effort to Pakistan and his condolences to New York City. And perhaps more valuable than any of that has been his staunch refutation of the anti-American compromisers who by finding fault with the United States--often real fault--would excuse the terrorists; he has coupled his response with eloquent explanation of the stakes involved in this new war. Now that a new military phase has begun, it is worth recalling a preview Mr. Blair provided in a speech to his Labor Party conference last week.

   ``The action we take will be proportionate, targeted,'' the prime minister said. ``We will do all we humanly can to avoid civilian casualties. But understand what we are dealing with . . . They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it? There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: Defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must.''

   To his own people, Mr. Blair urged confidence in ultimate victory in this ``fight for freedom'' because ``our way of life is a great deal stronger and will last a great deal longer than the actions of fanatics, small in number and now facing a united world against them.'' To the Americans, Mr. Blair promised simply: ``We were with you at the first. We will stay with you to the last.''

   Finally, Mr. Blair offered his vision of victory in this unorthodox campaign: ``It is that out of the shadow of this evil should emerge lasting good: destruction of the machinery of terrorism wherever it is found; hope amongst all nations of a new beginning where we seek to resolve differences in a calm and ordered way; greater understanding between nations and between faiths; and above all justice and prosperity for the poor and dispossessed, so that people everywhere can see the chance of a better future through the hard work and creative power of the free citizen, not the violence and savagery of the fanatic.'' Not a bad set of goals to keep in mind as a long campaign begins.

END