Desert Locust Control Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7276 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7276 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Desert Locust Control 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 4 It is the policy of the United States to prioritize ef- 5 forts to control the ongoing desert locust outbreak in East 6 Africa and other affected regions, mitigate the impacts on 7 food security, economic productivity, and political sta- 8 bility, improve interagency coordination to prevent future 9 outbreaks, and promote resilience in affected countries. 10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 11 Congress finds the following: 12 (1) The United States Agency for International 13 Development reports that countries in East Africa 14 are currently suffering the worst desert locust out- 15 break in decades, which will devour crops and pas- 16 ture and destroy local livelihoods across the region. 17 (2) As of June 2020, there were more than 26 18 million people experiencing acute food insecurity in 19 Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, 20 Uganda, Sudan, and Djibouti, and these numbers 21 are projected to increase if the desert locust out- 22 break is not controlled. 23 (3) As the desert locust outbreak continues, 24 there may be insufficient resources to continue to 25 conduct aerial spraying and without such resources 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7276 RFS the current outbreak could develop into a plague by 1 the end of 2020. 2 (4) The desert locust outbreak in East Africa, 3 particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, is neg- 4 atively impacting food security, local livelihoods and 5 economic productivity, and may threaten political 6 stability in the region. 7 (5) Proactive investments now to control the 8 desert locust outbreak could reduce the need for a 9 much larger United States humanitarian response 10 effort later, as well as support economic and political 11 stability and build resilience in affected countries. 12 (6) In order to optimize the United States re- 13 sponse to the desert locust outbreak, an interagency 14 working group should be established to develop and 15 implement a comprehensive, strategic plan to control 16 the desert locust outbreak in East Africa and other 17 affected regions, mitigate impacts on food security, 18 economic productivity, and political stability and 19 prevent future outbreaks. 20 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 22 an interagency working group to coordinate the United 23 States response to the ongoing desert locust outbreak in 24 East Africa and other affected regions, including the de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7276 RFS velopment of a comprehensive, strategic plan to control the 1 outbreak, mitigate the impacts on food security, economic 2 productivity, and political stability, and prevent future 3 outbreaks. 4 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The interagency working 6 group shall be composed of the following: 7 (A) Two representatives from the United 8 States Agency for International Development. 9 (B) One representative from each of the 10 following: 11 (i) The United States Mission to the 12 United Nations Agencies for Food and Ag- 13 riculture. 14 (ii) The National Security Council. 15 (iii) The Department of State. 16 (iv) The Department of Defense. 17 (v) The Department of Agriculture. 18 (vi) Any other relevant Federal de- 19 partment or agency. 20 (2) CHAIR.—The President shall designate one 21 of the representatives from the United States Agen- 22 cy for International Development described in para- 23 graph (1)(A) to serve as chair of the interagency 24 working group. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7276 RFS (c) DUTIES.—The interagency working group shall— 1 (1) assess the scope of the desert locust out- 2 break in East Africa and other affected regions, in- 3 cluding its impact on food security, economic pro- 4 ductivity, and political stability in affected countries; 5 (2) assess the impacts of restrictions relating to 6 the coronavirus disease 2019 (commonly referred to 7 as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic; 8 (3) monitor the effectiveness of ongoing assist- 9 ance efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 10 and mitigate its impacts and identify gaps and op- 11 portunities for additional support to such programs; 12 (4) review the effectiveness of regional and mul- 13 tilateral efforts to control the desert locust outbreak 14 and the coordination among relevant United States 15 Government agencies, regional governments, and 16 international organizations, including the World 17 Food Programme and the United Nations Food and 18 Agriculture Organization; and 19 (5) not later than 90 days after the establish- 20 ment of the interagency working group under sub- 21 section (a), develop and submit to the President and 22 the appropriate congressional committees a com- 23 prehensive, strategic plan to control the desert locust 24 outbreak, including a description of efforts to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 7276 RFS (A) improve coordination among relevant 1 United States Government agencies, regional 2 governments, and international organizations, 3 including the World Food Programme and the 4 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- 5 tion; 6 (B) ensure delivery of necessary assets 7 control the desert locust outbreak and humani- 8 tarian and development assistance to address 9 and mitigate impacts to food security, economic 10 productivity, and political stability; and 11 (C) to the extent practicable, prevent and 12 mitigate future desert locust and other, similar 13 destructive insect outbreaks (such as Fall 14 Armyworm) in Africa and other parts of the 15 world, which require a humanitarian response. 16 (d) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP SUPPORT.—The 17 interagency working group shall continue to meet not less 18 than semi-annually to facilitate implementation of the 19 comprehensive, strategic plan required by subsection 20 (c)(5). 21 (e) SUNSET.—This section shall terminate on the 22 date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of 23 this Act, or at such time as there is no longer an upsurge 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 7276 RFS in the desert locust outbreak in East Africa, whichever oc- 1 curs earlier. 2 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 3 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 4 sional committees’’ means— 5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 6 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives; and 8 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 9 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 10 Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7276.RFS H7276 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS