WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressmen Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, led 28 of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to support U.S. humanitarian food aid, strengthen U.S. farm production, and preserve the U.S.-flagged merchant fleet by maintaining level funding for the Food for Peace program in his fiscal year 2014 budget.
“The purchase of food from U.S. farmers and its subsequent shipment on U.S.-flagged vessels has helped support U.S. farm production and preserve the U.S. merchant marine,” the Members wrote. “Reductions in funding for this program – or changes in how it operates – would significantly reduce the amount of U.S. farm products our nation could provide to those in need around the world. It would also threaten our national security preparedness by reducing the domestic sealift capacity on which our U.S. military depends.”
Since 1954, the United States has provided vital food aid to the world’s poorest communities through the Food for Peace program, which ships U.S. agricultural products on U.S.-flagged merchant vessels to food-insecure nations. For six decades, this critical program has fed millions at risk of starvation and strengthened the capacity of local communities around the world to respond to natural and man-made disasters.
In recent years, there have been significant cuts to the Food for Peace budget. Any additional budget cuts – or changes in the way the program is implemented – would reduce U.S. food aid to vulnerable populations while putting jobs in our agricultural and maritime sectors at risk.
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