Each year, American farmers help feed many millions of hungry people in nearly 100 nations. Even so, there were more than 800,000 people, or nearly 10% of the world’s population, who were chronically undernourished in 2016. More than 3.1 million children die each year from malnutrition, while many others suffer the effects of permanently-impaired physical and cognitive problems that result from growing up without enough to eat. Many hungry people live in countries with high levels of debt, few exports and little ability to help their citizens. The most dire nations facing extreme hunger are Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Yemen. However, East Timor, Madagascar, Mozambique, Liberia, Haiti and Sierra Leone are also countries that struggle to feed their citizens.

The conflict in Ukraine has greatly added to global hunger with local, national, and global supply chains being disrupted and leading to increased food prices. The war has sparked what is considered the 3rd global food price crisis in 15 years affecting the entire world but causing the most severe challenges for poorer nations. Approximately 22 million tons of grain are now stranded in Ukraine waiting safe export.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.436 - SAFE Act (118th Congress 2023-2024)
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. James Risch (ID)

• I oppose reforming current global hunger policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Leader John Thune (SD).
• I support requiring the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop a strategy for averting a global food security crisis. I also support relaxing a law requiring that certain goods be transported by U.S. vessels by:
  
  1.) Authorizing USAID to procure life-saving food aid commodities to provide emergency food assistance to the most vulnerable populations in countries experiencing acute food insecurity. For certain commodities procured under this authority, the bill waives a requirement that a certain percentage of the commodities must be transported by U.S. vessels.
  
  2.) Removing a mandate from a federal cargo preference law relating to goods obtained by the U.S. government.
  
  And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. James Risch (ID) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.