WASHINGTON, D.C. — Introduced to Congress on March 24 as the Food Security Food Act 2015, House Resolution 1567 is co-authored by Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and has 19 bipartisan cosponsors.
Smith is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of its Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organization Subcommittee. The bill is his second attempt to win passage of food security legislation.
He first introduced the Global Food Security Act of 2014, which passed the full House of Representatives last December, but the Senate failed to pass the measure. The latest 14-page version retains most of the text of the 2014 act, but some wording and passages were modified to make the legislation clearer.
Smith sponsored the latest bill to build on the successes of the "Feed the Future" initiative that has worked to increase crop production for more than 7 million small-scale farmers and introduced key nutrition programs for 12.5 million children.
Latest studies show that one in nine people worldwide – 805 million — suffer chronic hunger. The key provision of the Global Food Security Act of 2015 would:
•Develop a comprehensive food security strategy that reduces global poverty, hunger and malnutrition, particularly among women and children
•Coordinate efforts across all federal departments and agencies to ensure the right people are talking to each other
•Support countries as they create national plans for food security
•Focus on nutritional outcomes for women and children, particularly in the 1,000-day window from the beginning of a pregnancy to the child’s second birthday
•Put in place strong reporting, oversight and accountability measures
•Invest just over $1 billion for fiscal year 2016 to carry out the strategy
Among the major food security supporters are Reps. Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.), Eliot L. Engle (D-N.Y.), Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), David G. Reichert (R-Wash.), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), David R. Cicilline (D-R.I.) and James P. McGovern (D-Miss.).
