U.S. Congressional Bills

Global Poverty Act (S.2433) Legislation aims to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015
For years, America has committed to improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. In 2000, the U.S. joined more than 180 countries at the United Nations Millennium Summit and vowed to reduce global poverty by 2015. We are halfway towards this deadline, and it is time the United States makes it a priority of our foreign policy to meet this goal and help those who are struggling day to day.
The Global Poverty Act:
• Declares it official U.S. policy to promote the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme global poverty in half by 2015.
• Requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to carry out that policy.
• Includes guidelines for what the strategy should include - from aid, trade, and debt relief, to working with the international community, businesses and NGOs, to ensuring environmental sustainability.
• Requires that the President’s strategy include specific and measurable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and timetables.
• Requires the President to report back to Congress on progress made in the implementation of the global poverty strategy.
This legislation is supported by a broad range of groups, including Bread for the World, CARE, Oxfam America, Habitat for Humanity International, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Borgen Project, United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, RESULTS, and Micah Challenge USA.

Negotiations Continue on a Final Farm Bill
The Senate passed its version of the 2007 farm bill in late December. The Senate and House are now working through a conference committee to reach a compromise on a final bill to send to the president for his signature. Bread for the World continues to urge congressional leadership to pass a better farm bill.

The House and Senate versions of the farm bill both include increases for the Food Stamp Program, but the funding is not secure. In the Senate bill, the funding will expire in 2012.

With 35 million Americans still living in households that struggle to put food on the table, funding for this critical increase must be made permanent.

Both the Senate and House-passed bills fail to make commodity payments more fair. Savings from much-needed reforms to the commodity payment program could be used to fund nutrition and conservation programs and help U.S. farm and rural families of modest means.

Congressional leaders are wrangling over how to pay for the bill?s new spending. There are still opportunities to urge our representatives in Congress to make the improvements to federal nutrition programs permanent.

Thank you to all who worked to improve the farm bill in the face of well-funded and entrenched special interests ... you have moved the debate many steps forward. Both the House and Senate bills are better than they would have been without our hard work. Also, nearly 300 newspapers have editorialized in favor of reform, and surveys show that most voters now understand that there are serious problems in the current farm bill.

Arizona Delegation in Washington, D.C.
at
One Table, Many Voices:
A Mobilization to Overcome Poverty & Hunger Conference
June 4-7, 2005 - American University

Photo taken by TAMERA ZIVIC