Senator Dick Durbin's Bill To Help End Hunger Secured In Senate Farm Bill

December 14, 2007 -- [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the language of his bill, The Hunger-Free Communities Act, was included in the 2007 Farm Bill.

“Currently, more than one in ten households in America worry about whether they will have enough food for their families,” said Durbin. “We hope to change that with the additional resources included in the Senate passed 2007 Farm Bill.”

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Durbin’s proposal increases federal resources available to locally-based organizations working to end hunger in their communities. Durbin’s proposal also directs the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture to report on national hunger and food security data, the progress toward the goals of cutting food insecurity and ending hunger, and the impact of hunger on the health of our communities.

The legislation also directs Congress to establish an anti-hunger grant program, the first of its kind, with an emphasis on assessing hunger in individual communities and promoting cooperation and collaboration among local anti-hunger groups. The bill will also create an additional grant program to expand the efforts and build the infrastructure of local anti-hunger groups, especially those in underserved areas and areas where rates of food insecurity, hunger, poverty, or unemployment are higher than the national average. These public/private partnerships will be funded through a $50 million a year, five-year grant program to help communities reduce, and ultimately eliminate, hunger.

The bipartisan Hunger Free Communities bill was first introduced in 2005 and is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Joe Biden (D-DE) Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Hilary Clinton (D-NY), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Barack Obama (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The House version of the bill was introduced by Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and cosponsored by Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO).

Source: Senator Dick Durbin