Karen Bass: “Once again I thank the chairman and the ranking member for bringing H.R. 1079, the Desert Locust Control Act to the…”

“Once again I thank the chairman and the ranking member for bringing H.R. 1079, the Desert Locust Control Act to the House floor today. As chair of the subcommittee, I am glad to colead this important bill with Ranking Member Smith. Ranking Member Smith has been the lead on this issue for several years. The current Desert Locust Control issue, which predominantly plagues East Africa, is the worst it has been in 70 years, and is causing serious famine and instability in the region. During a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, USAID Administrator Samantha Power confirmed the need to address the millions of people facing food scarcity. This is compounded with the global resurgence of a new COVID-19 variant; although, in Africa, most people do not yet have access to the vaccine. So this is not just an issue of a pest; this is an issue that affects health systems, child education, local economies, and political stability. H.R. 1079 is a great first step to alleviate the locust problem in East Africa by aiming to set up an interagency working group to develop a strategy on combating the locust by meeting periodically and annually, and reporting progress to Congress. This bill would also allow the interagency working group to review the effectiveness of regional and multilateral efforts to control the desert locust outbreak and the coordination among relevant U.S.…”