Durbin Asks for Improvements to International Food Aid Programs at Agriculture Appropriations Hearing

Press Release

DURBIN ASKS FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL FOOD AID PROGRAMS AT AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS HEARING

At today's hearing of Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) raised the need to make improvements to international food aid programs. Durbin is urging his colleagues to increase funding for the McGovern-Dole International School Feeding Program and set aside a designated amount of funding for non-emergency food aid currently included in Title II of the Farm Bill. Both programs are up for reauthorization in the 2007 Farm Bill.

"Every day around the world, more than 300 million children go through the day and then go to bed at night without enough to eat," Durbin said. "To put that into perspective, there are only about 280 million men, women and children in the United States. If we want the children of the world to become tomorrow's leaders, we must provide them with the basic building blocks to be successful."

Over the past 7 years, the McGovern-Dole program has promoted education, child development, and food security for the world's poorest children by providing healthy, nutritious foods to children who attend school. The program has provided meals to 26 million children in 41 countries and has boosted school attendance by 14 percent overall and by 17 percent for girls. The current funding of the McGovern-Dole program is currently $200 million short of the amount that was initially authorized for the program. Shortages have kept the program from implementing longer-term, more sustainable projects and expanding their benefits to more children and communities.

Next week, Durbin plans to introduce legislation that would restore funding for the McGovern-Dole program to its original level of $300 million by the year 2012. The bill would also make funding for the program mandatory which will allow the initiative to expand its reach and improve the grant awards process.

"While starving children around the world will certainly benefit from this program, so will American farmers and American business," said Durbin. "This effort can help everyone from agriculture producers to food processors to shippers and ports."

Durbin has also raised the need to set aside specific funding amounts for non-emergency purposes in Title II of the Farm Bill. Title II provides agricultural commodities for hunger, poverty and development programs. In recent years, emergency funding has far outstripped non-emergency or development food aid funding, leaving those dependent on the funding in jeopardy.

Source