Desert Locust Control Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1079 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To establish an interagency working group to develop a com- prehensive, strategic plan to control locust outbreaks in the East Africa region and address future outbreaks in order to avert mass scale food insecurity and potential political destabilization, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1079 RFS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Desert Locust Control 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 6 It is the policy of the United States to prioritize ef- 7 forts to control the ongoing desert locust outbreak in East 8 Africa and other affected regions, mitigate the impacts on 9 food security, economic productivity, and political sta- 10 bility, improve interagency coordination to prevent future 11 outbreaks, and promote resilience in affected countries. 12 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 13 Congress finds the following: 14 (1) The United States Agency for International 15 Development reports that countries in East Africa 16 are currently suffering the worst desert locust out- 17 break in decades, which will devour crops and pas- 18 ture and destroy local livelihoods across the region. 19 (2) As of December 2020, the Food and Agri- 20 culture Organization reported that there were 42 21 million people experiencing acute food insecurity in 22 East Africa, which numbers are projected to in- 23 crease if the desert locust outbreak is not controlled. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1079 RFS (3) The desert locust outbreak in East Africa, 1 particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, is neg- 2 atively impacting food security, local livelihoods and 3 economic productivity, and may threaten political 4 stability in the region. 5 (4) Proactive investments now to control the 6 desert locust outbreak could reduce the need for a 7 much larger United States humanitarian response 8 effort later, as well as support economic and political 9 stability and build resilience in affected countries. 10 (5) In order to optimize the United States re- 11 sponse to the desert locust outbreak, an interagency 12 working group should be established to develop and 13 implement a comprehensive, strategic plan to control 14 the desert locust outbreak in East Africa and other 15 affected regions, mitigate impacts on food security, 16 economic productivity, and political stability and 17 prevent future outbreaks. 18 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 20 an interagency working group to coordinate the United 21 States response to the ongoing desert locust outbreak in 22 East Africa and other affected regions, including the de- 23 velopment of a comprehensive, strategic plan to control the 24 outbreak, mitigate the impacts on food security, economic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1079 RFS productivity, and political stability, and prevent future 1 outbreaks. 2 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The interagency working 4 group shall be composed of the following: 5 (A) Two representatives from the United 6 States Agency for International Development. 7 (B) One representative from each of the 8 following: 9 (i) The United States Mission to the 10 United Nations Agencies for Food and Ag- 11 riculture. 12 (ii) The National Security Council. 13 (iii) The Department of State. 14 (iv) The Department of Defense. 15 (v) The Department of Agriculture. 16 (vi) Any other relevant Federal de- 17 partment or agency. 18 (2) CHAIR.—The President shall designate one 19 of the representatives from the United States Agen- 20 cy for International Development described in para- 21 graph (1)(A) to serve as chair of the interagency 22 working group. 23 (c) DUTIES.—The interagency working group shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1079 RFS (1) assess the scope of the desert locust out- 1 break in East Africa and other affected regions, in- 2 cluding its impact on food security, economic pro- 3 ductivity, and political stability in affected countries; 4 (2) assess the impacts of restrictions relating to 5 the coronavirus disease 2019 (commonly referred to 6 as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic on efforts to control the 7 desert locust outbreak and mitigate its impacts and 8 in exacerbating food insecurity; 9 (3) monitor the effectiveness of ongoing assist- 10 ance efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 11 and mitigate its impacts and identify gaps and op- 12 portunities for additional support to such programs; 13 (4) review the effectiveness of regional and mul- 14 tilateral efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 15 and the coordination among relevant United States 16 Government agencies, regional governments, and 17 international organizations, including the World 18 Food Programme and the United Nations Food and 19 Agriculture Organization; and 20 (5) not later than 90 days after the establish- 21 ment of the interagency working group under sub- 22 section (a), develop and submit to the President and 23 the appropriate congressional committees a com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1079 RFS prehensive, strategic plan to control the desert locust 1 outbreak, including a description of efforts to— 2 (A) improve coordination among relevant 3 United States Government agencies, regional 4 governments, and international organizations, 5 including the World Food Programme and the 6 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- 7 tion; 8 (B) ensure delivery of necessary assets 9 control the desert locust outbreak and humani- 10 tarian and development assistance to address 11 and mitigate impacts to food security, economic 12 productivity, and political stability; and 13 (C) to the extent practicable, prevent and 14 mitigate future desert locust and other, similar 15 destructive insect outbreaks (such as Fall 16 Armyworm) in Africa and other parts of the 17 world, which require a humanitarian response. 18 (d) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP SUPPORT.—The 19 interagency working group shall continue to meet not less 20 than semi-annually to facilitate implementation of the 21 comprehensive, strategic plan required by subsection 22 (c)(5). 23 (e) SUNSET.—This Act shall terminate on the date 24 that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1079 RFS Act, or at such time as there is no longer an upsurge in 1 the desert locust outbreak in East Africa, whichever oc- 2 curs earlier. 3 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 4 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 5 sional committees’’ means— 6 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 7 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 8 resentatives; and 9 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 10 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 11 Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1079.RFS H1079 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS