Washington, DC -- Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Lois Frankel, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, led Members from each respective committee in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Russell Vought, expressing their opposition to the administration’s reported efforts to effectuate a wholesale transfer of Food for Peace (FFP) funding and responsibilities to USDA. The move would cripple the program’s intent to deliver critical assistance to food insecure populations abroad.
“...The de facto transfer of FFP responsibilities to USDA weakens U.S. foreign policy tools. By separating emergency food assistance carried out with International Disaster Assistance funds now administrated by the State Department from FFP programming, the U.S. government will miss an opportunity to coordinate that assistance to achieve maximal impact. Further, USDA does not have staff experienced in responding to emergencies like the current famine in Sudan nor the monitoring and oversight of food assistance overseas, which is critical to guard against diversion of U.S. taxpayer-funded commodities and other resources. USAID maintained robust oversight teams in each country where it programmed food assistance; in contrast, USDA currently has eight agricultural attachés for the entire African continent.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Additional background: Since the Trump administration’s illegal closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year, the Department of State and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) have shared responsibility for administering and implementing Food For Peace (FFP), a 71-year-old initiative through which the U.S. government uses U.S. food commodities to feed vulnerable communities abroad. This critical initiative is responsible for saving millions of lives worldwide. The Trump administration is reportedly planning to shift the entire FFP program to USDA via an interagency agreement, bypassing Congress and subverting congressional intent and oversight. This will compromise FFP’s ability to effectively combat world hunger through harnessing American agricultural commodities to gradually reduce local dependence on U.S. foreign aid – ultimately making America less secure.
“...The de facto transfer of FFP responsibilities to USDA weakens U.S. foreign policy tools. By separating emergency food assistance carried out with International Disaster Assistance funds now administrated by the State Department from FFP programming, the U.S. government will miss an opportunity to coordinate that assistance to achieve maximal impact. Further, USDA does not have staff experienced in responding to emergencies like the current famine in Sudan nor the monitoring and oversight of food assistance overseas, which is critical to guard against diversion of U.S. taxpayer-funded commodities and other resources. USAID maintained robust oversight teams in each country where it programmed food assistance; in contrast, USDA currently has eight agricultural attachés for the entire African continent.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Additional background: Since the Trump administration’s illegal closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year, the Department of State and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) have shared responsibility for administering and implementing Food For Peace (FFP), a 71-year-old initiative through which the U.S. government uses U.S. food commodities to feed vulnerable communities abroad. This critical initiative is responsible for saving millions of lives worldwide. The Trump administration is reportedly planning to shift the entire FFP program to USDA via an interagency agreement, bypassing Congress and subverting congressional intent and oversight. This will compromise FFP’s ability to effectively combat world hunger through harnessing American agricultural commodities to gradually reduce local dependence on U.S. foreign aid – ultimately making America less secure.