Yesterday. the House passed an authorization bill which will greatly aid the African peoples in their hunger plight. The bill earmarks an additional $175 million in authorization for disaster assistance. AID operating expenses. and refugee shelter and health efforts. Few can appreciate how far or long the Africans must travel for the smallest morsel of food. Africa has the largest refugee and displaced person population in the world. Millions of its people travel hundreds of miles by foot in search of food. They frequently despair when their pilgrimage leads them to a destination where food supplies have been depleted and new shipments have not arrived. We must reach the faminestricken people of Africa. I believe our swift action to appropriate $175 million in disaster and refugee assistance and another $825 million in direct food aid is a beginning. The Agency for International Development will take the lead in arranging for the crossAtlantic transportation. port monitoring. and inland delivery so necessary for our food resources to reach feeding centers. Equally as important as the food surpluses which we donate to end the hunger crisis. and the reserve we create to avert a future emergency in Africa. is our longterm plan to assist underdeveloped nations in their struggles to till the land.