On the recordApril 22, 2010
Mr. President, I rise today to speak about an issue that was the subject of a Foreign Relations Committee hearing today, of course, chaired by our chairman, John Kerry, and the ranking member, Senator Dick Lugar. Today in America and worldwide, every 5 seconds a child dies from starvation. Every 5 seconds across the world, every 5 seconds every day is the reality that stares us in the face. While the United States has historically played an important role in addressing hunger internationally, this simple fact should serve as a galvanizing call to action on this issue. The 2008 global food crisis brought attention to the fact that emergency food assistance was not enough, as generous as our country is and as important as that strategy is to confronting the problem. The emergency food assistance that year was not enough, and donors in recipient countries that need to work together to address this systemic problem need to do so even more so today. The Obama administration has rightly prioritized food security and the political support in the Senate is growing every day for the Lugar- Casey Global Food Security Act. I commend Senator Lugar for his work on these issues for many years and, of course, I wish to commend and thank the work that our chairman, Senator John Kerry, is doing on this issue every day as well.…





