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“PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1501-E1502 on Aug. 2, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
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HON. LEE H. HAMILTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Friday, August 2, 1996
Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago I had the honor of co-
hosting a ceremony during which three private U.S. groups that help the U.S. Government and the U.N. distribute food aid--CARE, Save the Children, and World Vision--signed new working agreements with the U.N. World Food Program. This event provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the inspiring work of U.S.-based private voluntary organizations that help meet basic humanitarian needs worldwide.
Private voluntary organizations, many of them church- and synagogue-
based, have played important roles in promoting U.S. humanitarian and foreign policy objectives since World War II. Catholic Relief Services, CARE, Save the Children, World Vision, and other U.S.-based groups have been key participants in one of the most successful U.S. foreign policy initiatives of the post-war era: the Food for Peace Program. Since the enactment of the Food for Peace statute in 1954, the United States has distributed nearly $55 billion in food aid in 150 countries. U.S. food aid, much of it distributed by private voluntary organizations, has saved millions of people from starvation and improved the health and quality of life of tens of millions of others. Private U.S. development agencies, medical teams, and refugee groups have enhanced the living standards of countless others in the developing world.
Americans take pride in the impressive humanitarian achievements of U.S. private voluntary organizations, whose work has been generously supported by millions of U.S. donors. But some Americans may not be aware that the work of these groups also supports important U.S. foreign policy interests.
U.S. food aid has promoted economic development in dozens of countries. Economic development has turned many food aid recipients into big markets for U.S. farm exports, and it has enhanced the political stability of many friendly countries. U.S. food aid has also helped ease the transition to market-oriented economies in many former communist countries. The efforts of other private voluntary organizations to build homes, teach skills, care for the sick and wounded, and shelter refugees have eliminated many of the underlying sources of political violence and military conflict.
The role of U.S. private voluntary organizations overseas has been extraordinary: no private-public partnership has been more effective in promoting key U.S. foreign policy goals. Americans owe these groups considerable gratitude for their vital contribution to our humanitarian objectives, our national security, and our international prestige.
But the dedicated and talented people who work for U.S. private voluntary organizations would not want note to be taken of their work without some attention also being paid to the human deprivation that still exists in the developing world. We need consider only the stunning data on world hunger to gain a sense of the scope of the world's unmet humanitarian needs. More than 13 million children die from hunger-related causes every year--an average of 35,000 each day, or 1,500 an hour. More than 180 million children are seriously malnourished today; many of those who survive will never reach their full physical and intellectual potential. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that world food aid needs will double just in the next decade. Yet the food aid budgets of many countries are declining, food prices are rising, and farm surpluses are low.
U.S. food aid spending has been declining since 1993. The major farm bill enacted into law earlier this year included several measures that will make U.S. food aid programs more effective, but there is a limit to what we can do with declining resources.
Most Americans support U.S. Government food aid and other assistance to the world's poorest people. They want to help people in need, and they recognize that alleviating suffering make the world more secure and peaceful. As they learn more about the essential role played by private voluntary organizations in implementing the humanitarian programs of U.S. foreign policy, I am confident Americans will want to expand and improve those programs.
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