Expressing support for assisting East African countries afflicted by the plague of desert locusts.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 962 Expressing support for assisting East African countries afflicted by the plague of desert locusts. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. BASS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing support for assisting East African countries afflicted by the plague of desert locusts. Whereas the United States Agency for International Develop- ment reports that East Africa is currently suffering the worst locust outbreak in decades, which will devour crops and pasture across that region; Whereas there are more than 25 million people experiencing severe food insecurity in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan, and untold more will be at risk if the locusts, currently in their most vul- nerable state, are not controlled using airborne pesticides, before they mature into full grown locusts; Whereas the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that there may be insufficient resources to conduct aerial VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR962.IH HR962 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 962 IH spraying to address the outbreak of desert locusts that is currently devastating East Africa; Whereas the locust situation in the Horn of Africa, particu- larly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia represents an un- precedented threat to food security and livelihoods; Whereas a relatively small investment now to help eradicate the locusts will obviate or ameliorate the need for a much larger United States emergency aid effort later; Whereas Executive Director for the WFP David Beasley re- cently stated ‘‘Do nothing now and WFP will need up to 15 times that amount—more than US $1 billion—to as- sist people devastated by losing crops and livelihoods.’’; Whereas United States Ambassador to the United Nations food agencies in Rome Kip Tom has been coordinating efforts between the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), offering support for locust eradi- cation efforts and calling attention to areas which FAO needs to better address, including the safe application of pesticides, management of weak supply chains, coordina- tion of aerial eradication campaigns, and use of digital surveillance tools; Whereas air assets capable of being deployed to support lo- cust control efforts in East Africa potentially include the United States Air Force 910 Airlift Wing, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and those of contractors whose planes are routinely used by the United States Government; and Whereas prioritization of responses to the Coronavirus Dis- ease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and travel restrictions resulting from the pandemic have created additional logistical challenges to locust eradication efforts, includ- VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR962.IH HR962 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 962 IH ing delays in procurement and delivery of material: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the coordination efforts of United 2 States Ambassador to the United Nations food agen- 3 cies in Rome Kip Tom between the World Food Pro- 4 gramme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Orga- 5 nization (FAO); and 6 (2) calls upon the President to— 7 (A) elevate locust eradication efforts 8 among relevant United States Government 9 agencies to immediately address the emerging 10 food security crisis in East Africa; 11 (B) allocate appropriate air assets to sup- 12 port locust eradication efforts in East Africa; 13 and 14 (C) direct the Administrator of the United 15 States Agency for International Development to 16 immediately mobilize personnel from the Office 17 of Foreign Disaster Assistance to determine 18 further types of assistance the United States 19 may provide in East Africa. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR962.IH HR962 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS