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Business News for Thursday July 3, 2008
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Bush wants $770 million more global food aid
Friday May 2, 2008
U.S. President George W. Bush urged Congress on Thursday to approve $770 million in new global food aid to be made available beginning in October. The sum would be in addition to $200 million in emergency food aid announced two weeks ago through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called the Emerson Trust, and more aid is likely to be sought, he said.
"That's just the beginning of our efforts," he said at the White House. "I think more needs to be done." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, promised quick action. "This is not only a humanitarian issue; it is a matter of national security as well," she said in a statement. Riots have broken out in Egypt, Haiti, Yemen, Bangladesh and other nations in response to the rising price of food, which has gone up 43 percent internationally over the past year, a White House official said. On Tuesday, the United Nations formed a task force to look at the problem. "In some of the world's poorest nations, rising prices can mean the difference between getting a daily meal and going without food," Bush said. Of the $770 million, $395 million will be spent on emergency food aid, $225 million on direct assistance to the U.S. Agency for International Development and $150 million for development assistance, also through USAID, White House officials said after Bush's speech.
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