Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2005
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
AMENDMENT NO. 380
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, in the Senate just a few minutes ago, we passed an amendment offered by Senator Kohl and myself, which was an amendment for international aid for $470 million to help provide food for the millions of people in the world who are in dire need of food.
First, I thank Chairman Cochran for working with Senator Kohl and myself on this amendment. Senator Cochran is someone who has been a leader in this area, a leader in providing food for people around the world throughout his career. I thank him for his great work.
I also thank the cosponsors: Senators COLEMAN, HAGEL, LUGAR, ROBERTS, DOLE, HARKIN, DURBIN, LEAHY, MIKULSKI, INOUYE, LANDRIEU, MURRAY, DORGAN, JOHNSON, CORZINE, and OBAMA.
Additionally, I thank the Coalition for Food Aid, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, InterAction, and the numerous other groups who have been calling offices in the Senate in support of this important amendment. Their support has made a difference.
This past year has been notable for the very high profile humanitarian crises we have seen in the world, in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the catastrophic tsunami that swept throughout Southeast Asia. Little attention, however, has been paid to other horrible crises that have occurred, such as the locust damage to crops and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, or the devastating floods in Bangladesh and Haiti. They have not received nearly as much attention. These crises have drained the international food aid system, and clearly this system is now in need of replenishment. That is what this deals with.
This month, the U.N. World Food Program announced that it would be forced to cut rations in Darfur. Our own U.S. Agency for International Development has been forced to cut food aid programs in such countries as the Sudan, Angola, Nicaragua, Ghana, and Eritrea.
We cannot wait for the regular appropriations cycle to replenish the food aid resources that have been expended on the extraordinary emergencies that have occurred and are anticipated to occur in the remainder of this fiscal year. That is why this amendment was so very important. Waiting is simply not an option because lives are on the line. Waiting for the regular appropriations cycle will simply be too late.
We have an opportunity with this amendment and this bill to help show the hungry people of the world that they are not forgotten. I thank my colleagues for their support for this amendment. It is important that we maintain it in conference. It will, in fact, make a difference.
Again, I thank the chairman for his assistance and my colleagues for their support.
I yield the floor.
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