Speech #1020063762

I rise today to call attention to the current crisis and famine in the Horn of Africa. The enormity of human suffering in this region demands immediate actions from this body. from our entire Government. and from the world. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Department recently estimated that 30 million Africansa population roughly equal to that of Californiaare in danger of severe malnutrition and starvation. Thousands have already died. and tens of thousands more will die unless the world acts. At greater risk are the estimated 3 million refugees who have fled from Ethiopia. Somalia. and the Sudan. These countries have been plagued not only by recurrent drought but by civil war as well.