The vital roles of U.S. food-aid programs in national and economic security rapidly rose to front and center after an executive order was signed by the President January 20 implementing a 90-day suspension of U.S. foreign assistance programs.
The executive order was followed by a waiver applying to existing U.S. food-aid cargoes, among other things, allowing commodities that had already been contracted for, transferred to shipping terminals or loaded on vessels to be delivered. Under the waiver, only existing contracts can be fulfilled and no new tenders will be forthcoming from USAID.
American Maritime Officers and American Maritime Officers Service directly engaged on this development on Capitol Hill when the executive order was signed, working with maritime and agricultural interests to elevate awareness of the importance of U.S. food-aid programs.
Recognizing the threat to these programs that are critical to national interests, and to their constituents in particular, lawmakers have introduced companion legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives to remove U.S. food aid from the jurisdiction of USAID. The bills are sponsored by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Representative Tracey Mann (R-KS) – S. 525 and H.R. 1207, respectively – and would “transfer the functions, duties, responsibilities, assets, liabilities, orders, determinations, rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agreements, certificates, licenses, and privileges of the United States Agency for International Development relating to implementing and administering the Food for Peace Act to the Department of Agriculture.”
U.S. food-aid programs, including Food for Peace and Food for Progress, place commodities grown by American farmers on trucks and trains within the U.S. to be transported to our ports. Much of this food is loaded on U.S.-flagged merchant vessels of several types and delivered to nations in need around the world. In addition to relief for famine and emergency food shortages of all sorts, U.S. food-aid programs provide global markets for American farmers and cargoes for U.S. domestic ground transportation providers, as well as for American vessels manned by U.S. merchant mariners. American mariners are needed to operate active and reserve military support vessels in regular sealift operations and in times of contingency and conflict.
In signing the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated: “It will lay the basis for a permanent expansion of our exports of agricultural products, with lasting benefits to ourselves and peoples in other lands.”
Under the Cargo Preference Act of 1954, “at least 50 percent of any equipment, materials or commodities procured, contracted for or otherwise obtained with funds granted, guaranteed, loaned, or advanced by the U.S. Government under this agreement, and which may be transported by ocean vessel, shall be transported on privately owned United States-flag commercial vessels, if available.”
These cargoes, including those generated by American farmers through Food for Peace Title II and Food for Progress, help ensure U.S. merchant vessels remain in active service and American merchant mariners remain actively employed and current on their skills and certifications.
Testifying February 5, 2025 during a hearing of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, Chairman of the industry-labor coalition USA Maritime Brian Schoeneman stated: “Let me be clear – there is no more ‘America First’ set of foreign aid programs out there than the Title II PL 480 Food for Peace program and the Food for Progress program. These are programs, which have been around for more than 70 years, where American food is purchased and shipped on American ships to help feed hungry people and expand demand for American commodities. These programs are some of our best diplomatic tools, and they work. The Philippines were long one of America’s main recipients of Food for Peace shipments, and today they are our third largest market for American wheat. When these programs work, they are not simply giveaways to foreign countries – they are programs that support American farmers and merchant mariners, and they should be continued, regardless of what happens to USAID.”
Addressing witnesses during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing February 6, Sen. Moran – sponsor of the Senate bill that would transfer U.S. food-aid programs to the Department of Agriculture – said: “While there is certainly a moral component to food aid, I thought it might be valuable for you to remind me if there’s a value to farmers.”
Responses from farming industry representatives during the hearing emphasized this and other valuable aspects of U.S. food-aid programs.
“The food aid programs that do buy American commodities are critically important and we want to make sure those continue to function. Unfortunately, we have seen a temporary pause on programs like Food for Progress that is stopping more than 200,000 metric tons of wheat valued at over $65 million to our producers from being purchased from this country,” said National Association of Wheat Growers President Keeff Felty.
“Our members certainly recognize both the humanitarian need for that food aid but also the impact that it can have in terms of bringing stability to our own markets. And particularly now with a lot of pressure on a lot of those commodities, some of those commodities are at risk should there be major disruptions here from falling even further,” said National Farmers Union President Rob Larew.
President of the American Farm Bureau Federation Zippy Duvall described a conversation he had with a retired military officer relating to U.S. food aid. “We also got to think about the stability of our world,” Duvall said, adding the retired general told him: “what you do brings more stability to this world than anything else because when people get hungry, they get mean and mad and they get jealous of our country that has everything available to them because of the food system.”