May 23, 2005

SERIOUS FOOD AID SHORTAGE JEOPARDIZES THE WELL-BEING OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE:Urge your Senators and Representatives to increase U.S. food aid in FY 2006 appropriations

WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT:  As we have been reporting for months now, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and other organizations delivering nutritional services to vulnerable people worldwide are very concerned about the serious shortage of U.S.-sponsored global food aid.  Funding for food aid programs has not kept up with demands caused by unanticipated natural disasters such as the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia and the war ravaging the Darfur region of Sudan. Click here to take action now!  Enter your zip code in the text box provided and urge your members of Congress to appropriate $2 billion for Title II food aid in FY 2006. Click here for other ways to get involvedMany of CRS projects around the world that use food for long-term development such as improving nutrition among women and children or increasing agricultural productivity have been scaled back because of the food aid shortage.  As a result, CRS and our coalition partners believe that a minimum of $2 billion will be needed to cover global food aid needs in the next fiscal year. 

   BACKGROUND:  As Catholics, our Churchs social teaching is rooted in the fundamental dignity of every human life.  The U.S. Catholic Bishops have stated that the right to food is a basic right because it is required to sustain life and to live a truly human existence. Therefore, we are called to ensure that we do everything we can to meet the basic needs of our brothers and sisters around the world, including the need for food.With your help and that of many others, CRS and our coalition partners advocated successfully for inclusion of additional funding for food aid in the recently passed FY 2005 emergency spending bill.  While CRS is pleased with this outcome, we know that it will not be sufficient to cover the growing global needs.  In Sudan alone, it is estimated that more than $418 million will be needed to cover food shortfalls in southern Sudan, a region just now emerging from a long civil war, and in Darfur.    Congress is now turning its attention to the FY 2006 appropriations bills, which provide funding for government programs in the period October 1, 2005  September 30, 2006.  The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has already marked up its agriculture appropriations bill, which only includes $1.107 billion for food aid.  Next, the full House Appropriations Committee will be considering this bill and the Senate is also poised to take action on its version of the agriculture appropriations bill.

TAKE ACTION NOW!  Click here to contact your Senators and Representatives who are members of the Appropriations Committees (listed below) and urge them to include a minimum of $2 billion for Title II food aid in the FY 2006 agriculture appropriations bill.  Remind them that this funding level is close to what the U.S. has provided for food aid in recent years and that U.S. international food aid programs reflect the compassion and humanity of the American people, assisting not only in emergency situations but also promoting long-term development through agricultural, educational, and health programs.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP: 

• Share this action alert with your family, friends, and fellow parishioners. Encourage others to sign up for CRS legislative network www.crs.org/legislativenetwork.cfm. Learn, discuss, and pray about global issues that affect the poor and how our advocacy efforts can make a difference.  Visit our website www.crs.org/grassroots.cfm for educational, action, and prayer resources.
• Contribute to CRS efforts.  Visit our website www.crs.org or call (800) 736-3467 to make a gift today.

For further information contact:
Tina Rodousakis, Legislative Network Specialist, 1-800-235-2772 x 7462; trodousa@crs.org  

HOUSE AND SENATE APPROPIATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS
ALABAMA Sen. Richard ShelbyRep. Robert Cramer, Jr. 5th   Rep. Robert Aderholt, 4th	ALASKA Sen. Ted Stevens ARIZONA Rep. Ed Pastor, 4th Rep. Jim Kolbe, 8th ARKANSAS Rep. Marion Berry, 1st	CALIFORNIA Sen. Dianne FeinsteinRep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, 34th Rep. Jerry Lewis, 41st Rep. Randy Cunningham, 50th Rep. John Doolittle, 4th Rep. Sam Farr, 17th
COLORADO Sen. Wayne Allard	CONNECTICUT Rep. Rosa DeLauro, 3rd FLORIDA Rep. C.W. Bill Young, 10th-FLRep. Dave Weldon, 15th Rep. Ander Crenshaw, 4th Rep. F. Allen Boyd, 2nd GEORGIA Rep. Jack Kingston, 1st Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr., 2nd	HAWAII Sen. Daniel Inouye
IDAHO Sen. Larry Craig Rep. Mike Simpson, 2nd	ILLINOIS Sen. Richard DurbinRep. Ray LaHood, 18th Rep. Mark Kirk, 10th Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., 2nd INDIANA Rep. Peter Visclosky, 1st IOWA Sen. Tom Harkin Rep. Tom Latham, 4th	KANSAS Sen. Sam Brownback Rep. Todd Tiahrt, 4th
KENTUCKY Sen. Mitch McConnellRep. Harold Rogers, 5th  Rep. Anne Northup, 3rd	LOUISIANA Sen. Mary Landrieu Rep. Rodney Alexander, 5th MARYLAND Sen. Barbara Mikulski Rep. Steny Hoyer, 5th MASSACHUSETTS Rep. John Olver, 1st	MICHIGAN Rep. Joseph Knollenberg-9th Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, 13th
MINNESOTA Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, 5th	MASSACHUSETTS Rep. John Olver, 1st MICHIGAN Rep. Joseph Knollenberg-9th Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, 13th MINNESOTA Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, 5th	MISSISSIPPI Sen. Thad Cochran Rep. Roger Wicker, 1st
MISSOURI Sen. Christopher Bond Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, 8th	MONTANA Sen. Conrad Burns Rep. Dennis Rehberg, At Large NEVADA Sen. Harry Reid NEW HAMPSHIRE Sen. Judd Gregg	NEW JERSEY Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, 11th Rep. Steven Rothman, 9th
NEW MEXICO Sen. Pete Domenici	NEW YORK Rep. Nita Lowey, 18th Rep. Josi Serrano, 16thRep. John Sweeney, 20th Rep. James Walsh, 25th  Rep. Maurice Hinchey, 22nd NORTH CAROLINA Rep. David Price, 4th Rep. Charles Taylor, 11th NORTH DAKOTA Sen. Byron Dorgan	OHIO Sen. Mike DeWineRep. Marcy Kaptur, 9th Rep. Ralph Regula, 16th Rep. David Hobson, 7th
OKLAHOMA Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr. 5th	PENNSYLVANIA Sen. Arlen SpecterRep. Don Sherwood, 10th Rep. John Peterson, 5th Rep. John Murtha, 12th Rep. Chaka Fattah, 2nd RHODE ISLAND Rep. Patrick Kennedy, 1st SOUTH CAROLINA Rep. James Clyburn, 6th	SOUTH DAKOTA Sen. Tim Johnson
TENNESSEE Rep. Zach Wamp, 3rd	TEXAS Sen. Kay Bailey HutchisonRep. Henry Bonilla, 23rd  Rep. Kay Granger, 12th Rep. John Culberson, 7th Rep. John Carter, 31st Rep. Chet Edwards, 17th UTAH Sen. Robert Bennett VERMONT Sen. Patrick Leahy	VIRGINIA Rep. Frank Wolf, 10thRep. Virgil Goode, Jr., 5th Rep. Jim Moran, 8th
WASHINGTON Sen. Patty Murray Rep. Norman Dicks, 6th	WEST VIRGINIA Sen. Robert Byrd Rep. Alan Mollohan, 1st WISCONSIN Sen. Herb Kohl Rep. David Obey, 7th