SFRC Chairman Menendez Remarks at Full Committee Hearing: “Global Food Security Crisis and the U.S. Response”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning’s full Committee hearing entitled “Global Food Security Crisis and the U.S. Response.” Testifying before the Committee were U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley.

“We must be crystal clear about what is at stake—nearly 828 million people are at grave risk of hunger and disease, with many at risk of outright starvation,” Chairman Menendez said, condemning Putin’s efforts to accelerate global hunger as leverage for sanctions relief. “While far more complex than a land war or terrorist attack, the global food security crisis represents the clearest threat to global peace and security we have seen in decades.”

Over the last two years, there has been an alarming two-hundred percent rise in people who go to sleep hungry and desperate—unsure where their family’s next meal will come from. Who will leave their homes in search of food, who will do what they must to survive,” Chairman Menendez added. “If we do not collectively respond, the global hunger crisis will deepen conflicts and further destabilize fragile regions of the world that were already struggling.”

Find a copy of Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.

“This hearing will come to order.

Thank you, Administrator Power, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield for appearing before our committee as we examine one of the most fundamental and far-reaching threats the world faces today, which is global food security.

We must be crystal clear about what is at stake—nearly 828 million people are at grave risk of hunger and disease, with many at risk of outright starvation.

While far more complex than a land war or terrorist attack, the global food security crisis represents the clearest threat to global peace and security we have seen in decades.

Ruthless autocrats, militias and terrorist organizations have always used food as a weapon of war. And Vladimir Putin is no different.

Ukraine has long been considered a critical breadbasket of the world; disrupting food shipments and promoting a disinformation campaign about Ukraine’s role in the resulting food crisis have been a deliberate byproduct of Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion in February.

Russian forces occupied farms. They destroyed tractors and combines. They blockaded ports and bombed rail lines.

The war has decimated three seasons of Ukrainian grain production.

But we have to remember that the resulting food security crisis was not a by-product of Russian aggression.

Starvation is part of their strategy.

In April, the Deputy of the Russian Security Council openly admitted food was the Kremlin’s ‘silent but menacing’ weapon.

And now Putin is amplifying the horrific effects of the war in Ukraine, accelerating global hunger as leverage for sanctions relief.

Prior to Putin’s invasion, 26 countries, many of them in the Middle East and across Africa, relied on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat imports.

But Putin just poured jet fuel on the fire.

From climate change and natural disasters, to supply chain bottlenecks and the COVID pandemic, this crisis has been building for some time.

Over the last two years, there has been an alarming two-hundred percent rise in people who go to sleep hungry and desperate—unsure where their family’s next meal will come from. Who will leave their homes in search of food, who will do what they must to survive.

If we do not collectively respond, the global hunger crisis will deepen conflicts and further destabilize fragile regions of the world that were already struggling.

In the Horn of Africa an unprecedented three failed rainy seasons endangers the lives of 21 million people. Hundreds of thousands face starvation in Somalia alone.

In Central America, the dry corridor spanning from Panama to southern Mexico threatens the livelihoods of millions and is one of the core drivers of forced migration.

But we are also not immune from these threats here in the United States.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is a key factor behind historic levels of price inflation for fuel and food in the United States.

Most homes across America are feeling the squeeze, with low income households hit the hardest.

The United States has an absolutely critical role to play combating this global crisis.

Congress has taken action—in a bipartisan manner—passing the recent five billion dollar Ukraine emergency supplemental package to get food aid and agricultural support to parts of the world impacted directly by Russia’s reckless actions.

We need to make sure the money we’ve appropriated is spent expeditiously and responsibly so that we help those who need it most.

But we also need to recognize that this is a political crisis. And to solve it, we’ll need a political solution with American diplomacy leading the way.

This hearing will examine what the United States must do to prevent this crisis from overwhelming the world.

And I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses today on what actions the Biden administration is taking to combat the underlying drivers of food insecurity.

How are you using the recent emergency supplemental funds provided by Congress?

What do you need from Congress to achieve our national security and humanitarian goals?

To get a better understanding of our diplomatic efforts, I want to hear more about the ways in which we’re tackling this problem through close collaboration with our allies and friends who share our concerns.

And finally, I hope you will talk about the ways we can continue to keep the pressure on Russia for their inhumane and criminal actions. 

We must do better to combat Russia’s successful disinformation campaigns blaming Ukraine and anyone else for Putin’s own starvation campaigns.

With that let me turn to the Ranking Member, Senator Risch, for his opening statement.”

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