African Famine Relief Bill Introduced by Senator Daschle, Others. Your Support is Needed. Here is How to Help.

An emergency Africa famine relief bill providing U.S. emergency food assistance was introduced in the Senate January 16th by Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and others. A Senate amendment to the omnibus 2003 spending bill now before Congress based on this bill has provided $500 million in the Senate version of the spending bill. (Full text of the bill.)

However this $500 million in food aid for Africa is by no means assured, as the House has its own version of the omnibus spending bill, and the two versions must be reconciled into one final bill, which might easily lead to the elimination of the African famine relief funding.  

Hunger Notes believes this funding is necessary and that Hunger Notes readers should contact their Senators to ask for their support of this measure.

Since Hunger Notes began covering the emerging food crises in Africa, the number of people threatened with famine has grown from approximately 8 million to the present 38 million.  Southern Africa was the major concern in the summer of 2002, but the food situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea (countries in the "Horn of Africa") has also become very grave. Prolonged drought has been the principal reason for the crisis, as it has not only drastically reduced production, but also severely reduced or eliminated poor peoples food or other assets that they use to cope in periods of low food production. Current emergency food supplies are only sufficient for approximately another month, and passing the emergency legislation and then getting additional food in the pipeline, which will take some time to get to famine-threatened people, means that action cannot come too soon to avert deaths from hunger.

Hunger Notes urges you to contact at least one of your Senators in support of  increased food aid for Africa.  Here is how to do so.

Go to www.senate.gov.  Use the pull down menu (by state) on this page to locate your Senators. Choose one, and then go to his/her home page.  On that home page you will see how to contact your Representative by email, or phone.  

A reasonable message would be:

I ask you to support S.185, which authorizes emergency food aid for Africa, and the provision in the Continuing Resolution which provides $500 million for such aid. There are now 38 million people in Africa threatened with starvation and current food aid is not sufficient to assist them.  

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