Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 97.djvu/779

 PUBLIC LAW 98-110—OCT. 3, 1983 97 STAT. 747 Public Law 98-110 98th Congress Joint Resolution To authorize and request the President to designate October 16, 1983, as "World Food Oct. 3, 1983 Day". [S.J. Res. 81] Whereas hunger and chronic malnutrition remain daily facts of life for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world; Whereas the children of the world are those who are suffering the most serious effects of hunger and malnutrition, with millions of children dying each year from hunger-related illness and disease, and many others suffering permanent physical or mental im- pairment, including blindness, because of vitamin and protein deficiencies; Whereas although progress has been made in reducing the incidence of hunger and malnutrition in the United States, certain groups, notably Native Americans, migrant workers, the elderly, and children, remain vulnerable to malnutrition and related diseases; Whereas the danger posed by malnutrition and related diseases to these groups and to other people is intensified by unemployment and slow rates of economic growth; Whereas national policies concerning food, farmland, and nutrition require continuing evaluation and should consider and strive for the well-being and protection of all residents of the United States and particularly those most at health risk; Whereas there is widespread concern that the usc and conservation of land and water resources required for food production through- out the United States ensure care for the national patrimony we bequeath to future generations; Whereas the United States has always supported the principle that the health of a nation depends on a strong agricultural foundation based on private enterprise and the primacy of the independent family farm; Whereas a major global food supply crisis appears likely to occur within the next twenty years unless the level of world food production is significantly increased, and the means for the distri- bution of food and of the resources required for its production are improved; Whereas the United States, as the world's largest producer and trader of food, has a key role to play in efforts to assist nations and peoples to improve the ability to feed themselves; Whereas the United States has a long tradition of demonstrating its humanitarian concern for helping the hungry and malnourished; Whereas efforts to resolve the world hunger problem are critical to the security of the United States and the international community; Whereas the Congress of the United States is acutely conscious of the paradox of immense farm surpluses and rising farm foreclo- sures in America despite the desperate need for food by hundreds of millions of people around the world;

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