-Thank you all for being here today. I'm particularly honored to be with my Ambassador Tony Hall, with my great friend Jo Ann Emerson, and with so many leaders in the fight against global hunger.
-I believe that today represents an incredibly important step in the effort to end hunger around the world. I often say that hunger is a political condition - we have the resources to end it, but what we need is the political will to make it happen.
-But in addition to the necessary political will, we also need a plan. A real, concrete, actionable plan. And that's why this Roadmap is so very important. The Roadmap emphasizes a comprehensive strategy that balances short-term emergency needs with long term development. It stresses the need to fund these priorities. And it focuses on speed and flexibility.
-It is my intention, working with Jo Ann and other like-minded colleagues, to introduce legislation based on the recommendations in the Roadmap.
-Back in November, Jo Ann and I spearheaded a bipartisan letter to President-Elect Obama, asking him to establish a so-called Hunger Czar. Historically, our anti-hunger efforts have been hampered by the fact that they are spread out over different agencies in different departments. We believe that a single point-person in the White House should be named to coordinate all of these programs and to take the lead into putting a comprehensive strategy into place.
-Now, we all know that budgets are very, very tight right now. People may ask, ‘Why should we spend money on hunger around the world when we have so many pressing problems here at home?' My response is this: While ending hunger is certainly the morally correct thing to do, this isn't just charity we're talking about. This is an investment in our own long-term economic and national security interests.
-Let me give you one example - Afghanistan. Three quarters of Afghans are small farmers or nomads without sufficient agricultural development and food security. That makes the prospects of a stable, secure Afghanistan much more difficult. And that's true of the majority of the developing world.
-The simple fact is this: We know these programs can and do work. Again, thank you all for being here today. It is now my honor to introduce a real champion in this fight, my friend, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri.-
