[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Con. Res. 344 Introduced in House (IH)] 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 344 Recognizing that we are facing a global food crisis. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 7, 2008 Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Kilpatrick, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Doggett, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Hare, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Sutton, Ms. Lee, Mr. Klein of Florida, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Kind, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Sires, Mr. Arcuri, Ms. Solis, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Baca, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Engel, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Carson, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Crowley, Ms. Watson, Ms. Roybal-Allard, and Ms. Waters) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing that we are facing a global food crisis. Whereas according to the United Nations, over 850,000,000 people in the world are chronically or acutely malnourished, and over 300,000,000 of these are children; Whereas the 2000 United Nations Millennium Development Summit called for halving the proportion of hungry people in the world by the year 2015, but progress reaching this goal has been slow, and, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, only the Latin American and Caribbean region has been reducing the prevalence of hunger quickly enough to reach this target; Whereas every year, malnutrition caused by chronic hunger leads to the death of an estimated 5,600,000 children under 5 years old; Whereas, according to UNICEF, an estimated 146,000,000 children, or roughly one in every four children under 5 years old, are underweight; Whereas hunger and malnutrition weaken the immune system, and as a result treatable diseases pose a greater risk to malnourished children; Whereas even temporary deprivation of essential nutrients can have a lasting impact on children's physical growth and intellectual potential; Whereas children who are only mildly underweight are twice as likely to die of infectious diseases as children who are better nourished, and children who are moderately or severely underweight are 5 to 8 times more likely to die of infectious diseases; Whereas according to a study conducted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 45 percent of children who died after contracting measles were malnourished, as were 60 percent of children who died after contracting severe diarrhea; Whereas chronic hunger and undernutrition can lead to growth retardation (stunting), affecting an estimated 168,000,000 children under age 5 in developing countries; Whereas some 42 percent of children under 5 years old are stunted in the least developed countries, compared to 30 percent globally; Whereas women whose growth was retarded face ongoing health complications as adults, when they are more likely to have obstructed labor, are at greater risk of dying during childbirth, and are more likely to deliver low-birthweight and stunted children; Whereas stunted growth has also been linked to diminished work capacity and higher propensity to diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, in adults; Whereas the global community is currently facing a food crisis, with food prices doubling over the past 3 years and rising 65 percent between January and April 2007 alone, and the World Bank has estimated that the emergency situation could push 100,000,000 people in low-income countries deeper into poverty; Whereas rising food prices have caused riots in Haiti, Bangladesh, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique, and Senegal, and, as of December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises; Whereas as a result of rising food prices, individuals and families throughout the developing world have a decreased buying power, and are often forced to either buy significantly smaller quantities of food, or to buy less nutritious food; Whereas in times of food crisis, families often must cut more expensive foods, such as meat, fruit, and vegetables, from their diets, instead relying on less nutritious staples such as rice and maize, foods without the vitamins and minerals necessary for proper child growth; Whereas, given the scope of the current food crisis, United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon has proposed a task force, to be composed of the heads of United Nations agencies and the World Bank, to address the global problem caused by soaring food prices; and Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has made closing a $755,000,000 funding gap for the World Food Programme, caused by rising food prices, a priority: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That-- (1) it is the sense of Congress that-- (A) in emergency situations, children have different needs than those of adults, and nutritional deficiencies disproportionately affect children; and (B) in the context of the current global food crisis, the nutritional needs of children must be a humanitarian priority; and (2) Congress-- (A) recognizes that we are facing a global food crisis caused by, among other things, rising fuel prices, increased diversion of land to biofuel production, drought, and increases in population; (B) recognizes that lack of adequate nutrition is particularly damaging to children, as it stunts their growth, leaves them more vulnerable to numerous diseases, and hunger affects children's ability to learn; and (C) calls for a world forum to be held, on the issue of rising food prices and international response, and for the United States to play an active role in alleviating the crisis. <all>