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Coalition Statement of Support for Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 38/House Concurrent Resolution No. 92 to Waive the Cargo Preference Requirement on Food Aid until 2025

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Action Against Hunger
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As organizations engaged in efforts to end global hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty, we applaud the introduction of Senate Concurrent Resolution 38 (S.Con.Res.38) by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) and House Concurrent Resolution 92 (H.Con.Res.92) by Representatives Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Jim Costa (D-CA), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), and Danny Davis (D-IL). Our community strongly supports efforts in Congress to address rising shipping costs as the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine continue to have ripple effects on the entire global food system. These rising costs reduce the purchasing power of U.S. implementing partners who procure and transport in-kind aid to those in dire need. This resolution would temporarily waive the requirement under current law that mandates 50-percent of U.S. food aid exports be shipped on U.S. flagged vessels from now until 2025.

Global markets have been thrust into disarray with the lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent supply chain disruptions occurring because of the conflict in Ukraine. As a result, the costs of shipping – especially ocean freight – have increased substantially, negatively impacting U.S. food assistance programs. These inflated costs are diverting already limited funding towards transportation rather than the purchase of life-saving food aid and other complementary support activities. In fact, in some instances – such as the recent drawdown of the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust – the cost of shipping has now superseded the price of the food commodities themselves. In these unprecedented conditions, we request that Congress urgently consider and pass S.Con.Res.38/H.Con.Res.92 to help ease the increasing burden of rising shipping costs on lifesaving, hunger-reducing programs by temporarily waiving the U.S. cargo preference mandate on food aid.

As the number of children, mothers, and families around the world requiring emergency-level aid continues to skyrocket – driven by climate change, conflict, COVID-19, and most recently the war in Ukraine – we need to efficiently maximize the use of foreign assistance resources to fight global hunger and get ahead of the most severe outcomes. Allowing food assistance programs to operate at their maximum level of efficiency is critically important now more than ever before to help those suffering from extreme hunger around the world. We thank our partners in Congress for continuing to champion global food security and nutrition programs, and stand ready to partner with all stakeholders in a transparent and inclusive way on this effort.

Sincerely,

  1. Action Against Hunger

  2. Alliance to End Hunger

  3. Bread for the World

  4. CARE USA

  5. Catholic Relief Services

  6. Corus International

  7. Food for the Hungry

  8. Global Communities

  9. InterAction

  10. Islamic Relief USA

  11. Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

  12. Mercy Corps

  13. ONE

  14. Oxfam America

  15. RESULTS

  16. Save the Children

  17. World Food Program USA

  18. World Vision