Washington, D.C. - As the U.S. House begins consideration of a farm bill, H.R. 1947 (FARRM Act), a coalition of 30 U.S. humanitarian and advocacy NGOs encouraged support for the amendment that House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) intend to offer. The bipartisan Royce-Engel amendment will reform U.S. international food aid to feed more people, more quickly, at a lower cost. Royce and Engel announced their intention to offer the amendment in a news release earlier today.
In the letter, the groups highlight the fact that the bipartisan amendment reforms the Food for Peace program to provide greater flexibility and help more people with our overseas food assistance without spending any additional taxpayer dollars.
The letter states: “It is now more important than ever that US. food assistance programs maximize their reach and effectiveness and that we make reforms to these crucial programs to meet the needs of millions of families around the world."
The letter also points out that a broad coalition of supporters for food aid reform has emerged, including NGOs, conservative think tanks, editorial boards, and officials from the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.
Visit the Committee’s food aid reform webpage to get more information on bipartisan food aid reform efforts.
