Global Food Security Act of 2014
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for
yielding me the time and for his leadership on these important issues.
I also want to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey,
Chris Smith, and the gentlewoman from Minnesota, Betty McCollum, for
their leadership in bringing this important bill before the House.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise in support of H.R. 5656, the
Feed the Future Global Food Security Act of 2014. I remember in 2008
when our former colleague from Missouri, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson,
and I sat down with researchers from the GAO to talk about how our
global food security programs could be improved and made more
effective. Their advice was simple: Create a comprehensive government-
wide strategy.
I want my House colleagues to know that it was State Department and
USAID officials under President George W. Bush who were the first to
brainstorm about how to undertake such a comprehensive approach to
global food security. And then in 2009, we were lucky enough to have
Raj Shah, with his deep experience in agricultural development,
evaluation, and analysis, take the helm at USAID. And most of all, we
had Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, who understood the
importance of tackling agriculture and nutrition in a comprehensive
fashion in order to increase food security, strengthen small farmers,
empower women, and develop local and regional agricultural markets.
Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan bill helps codify and institutionalize
one of our most important and effective global food security programs,
Feed the Future, and its related nutrition and agricultural development
programs. These programs have a proven track record of success. I want
to thank all of the NGOs and private sector partners that have brought
these programs to life on the ground.
I have been engaged on global hunger, child nutrition, and food
security issues for the past 18 years. I have never been more hopeful
that the U.S. is finally pursuing a strategy that works and can make a
difference.
Increasing the ability of nations to feed their own people, care for
the nutritional needs of their children, increase incomes for their
farmers, and help them remain on their land is not just a worthy goal,
it is an attainable one. And H.R. 5656 will ensure that the U.S. stays
on that course. I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would say to my colleagues that global
hunger, I believe, is essentially a political condition. We have the
leadership capability, we have the resources, we have the ability to
end global hunger. What we need is the political will.
I urge my colleagues, as they support this legislation, to reflect
upon the success story of Feed the Future, and let's amplify it even
more. This program works. It deserves our support.
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