Goodlatte opposes USAID plan to buy portion of food aid overseas

Goodlatte opposes USAID plan to buy portion of food aid overseas    The head of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee said he opposes a budget proposal by the Agency for International Development to transfer $300 million of the agency’s $1.2 billion food aid funding for 2006 to buy these commodities from overseas sources.
   USAID said the transferred funds would be used to buy overseas food in areas experiencing emergency food situations.
   Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement Tuesday the proposal would “pull $300 million out of the taxpayers’ pockets and drop it into foreign markets.
   “I strongly oppose this proposal,” Goodlatte said.
   The federal government’s P.L. 480, Title II provides food aid, purchased from American farmers, to needy countries.
   In previous years, funds from this program have been used in overseas markets under special circumstances. For Afghanistan in 2002, USAID bought wheat and other products from countries nearby Afghanistan instead of using American wheat.
   “In the rare case that American products cannot reach the hands of the recipients quickly and efficiently, I think it is acceptable, after consultation with the Agriculture Committee, to use the money in local markets to ensure the aid is delivered swiftly,” Goodlatte said. “It is absolutely foolish to set aside a large portion of the budget for such limited occurrences.”