Federal Food Donation Act of 2008

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues for their support of S. 2420, the Federal Food Donation Act of 2007, which is being passed through the Senate today. I introduced this bill, which will encourage the donation of excess food from Federal agencies and their qontractors to emergency food providers, on December 6, 2007.

In a country as wealthy as ours it is unacceptable that anyone person should go hungry, yet approximately 35.5 million Americans have difficulty affording food. An estimated 732,000 households in my home State of New York live with hunger or the threat of hunger.

Food banks and pantries all across the United States are facing a perfect storm where as the economy suffers and food prices rise, more and more families are relying on their services; yet the pantries are straining to keep their shelves stocked due to the increase in food requests and food costs. According to America's Second Harvest, food banks around the country lare reporting that an estimated 20 percent more people are visiting soup kitchens and food pantries for help this year than last year, and too many people are being turned away. We need to do everything we can to make sure that all families in all communities have enough to eat during these difficult times.

This bill will help make fighting hunger a national priority. In the 1990s, the United States Department of Agriculture created an initiative through which it encouraged the practice of food recovery. During just 1 year of the program, 1998, the Federal Government recovered over 3 million pounds nationwide from cafeterias, farms, research centers, and military bases. For the past decade the Federal Government has strayed away from this important anti-hunger initiative, but this bill would take an important step towards reengaging the Federal Government's involvement in food recovery.

Nonprofits in the business of food rescue serve millions of people, and I would like to thank one such nonprofit, Rock and Wrap it Up!, a national food rescue organization headquartered in New York, for their help in conceiving of and promoting this bill. I commend them for their great work. It is now time for the Federal Government to join the nonprofit and private sectors in doing all it can to feed our Nation's hungry--the need for help is greater now than it has been in a very long time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2420, the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008. This bill would require a clause in federal food services contracts greater than $25,000 to encouraging donations to nonprofit organizations, such as food banks and food pantries.

I have been active in the fight against hunger for over two decades. Following my first visit to Ethiopia during its famine in 1984, I worked across the aisle to fight hunger both at home and abroad. I was pleased to work for the passage of the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 that protected organizations donating food to charitable organizations from liability in order to spur greater donations.

However, I am concerned that rising food commodity prices and gasoline prices could hamper efforts by food banks and food pantries to meet the needs of the hungry. In meeting with charitable organizations in my congressional district, it is clear that the business

community and government agencies could be doing much more to support efforts to a growing number of families relying on food assistance from charitable organizations.

Anyone who has visited a grocery store in the last year understands the challenge our food banks are facing. U.S. grocery prices increased 5.1 percent overall during the last year, with a 17-percent increase in cost for dairy products, a 13-percent increase for rice and pasta, and a 12-percent increase in the cost of breads. This has a tremendous impact on the bottom line for American families. For example, if a family earns $45,000 a year, it now costs them an extra $1,000 to maintain the same food, gas, and basic goods purchases compared to 2006--a 9.6-percent increase. This makes more families dependent on food assistance, and even more affluent families less likely to donate to food banks and food pantries.

I am proud that the food banks and food pantries, grocery stores, and chambers of commerce in my district are coming together to raise awareness of this challenge and develop community-based solutions. Given the large federal agency presence in my district, I believe that this bill will help supplement their efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this pragmatic and necessary legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2420) to encourage the donation of excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States in contracts entered into by executive agencies for the provision, service, or sale of food.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, S. 2420, the Federal Food Donation Act, is a modest measure designed to help address a very large problem, hunger in America. In 2005, 25 million people in this country, including 9 million children, had to rely on soup kitchens and other charitable feeding programs to help meet their nutritional needs.

S. 2420 is very similar to legislation introduced by Representative Jo Ann Emerson, H.R. 4220, which passed the House on a voice vote last December. It requires Federal agencies to include in their food service and space rental contracts a provision which encourages contractors to donate any surplus wholesome food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to the hungry. This bill builds on the work of some innovative nonprofit organizations and think tanks that have been conducting similar programs in the private sector.

The bill also includes provisions which would ensure that cost of collecting, transporting and storing donated food would not be borne by the Federal Government, and that executive agencies and contractors would be protected from civil or criminal liability.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take up S. 2420, the Federal Food Donation Act. The House version of this legislation, H.R. 4220, was introduced by Representative Jo Ann Emerson and was passed by the House last December.

S. 2420 would require the Federal Acquisition Regulation to be amended to provide certain contracts for the provision, service or sale of food, include a clause encouraging the donation of excess food to organizations such as homeless shelters. In doing so, the legislation also states agencies and contractors making donations would be protected from civil or criminal liability associated with the donation.

Mrs. Emerson has been a leader in the effort to relieve hunger in this Nation, and I applaud her dedication to this issue. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 748, S. 2420.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to this measure be printed in the Record.