Sen. Dorgan Cites Harry In Fight For Hunger Funds

by Bill Hornung

As the U.S. Congress debated passing a mammoth $350 billion tax cut on May 19, U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan from North Dakota passionately recalled Harry Chapin during a plea to include some relatively small funding to stem the ongoing starvation throughout Africa.

Dorgan proposed earmarking $250 million for emergency food relief as part of $15 billion in funding to fight the AIDS epidemic. The AIDS bill became a major discussion point during the budget negotiations. Both the budget cuts and the AIDS bill were approved and signed by President Bush.

The hunger-relief funding failed by two votes when Senate leaders pressured members to vote against any additional amendments.

All totaled, Dorgan's proposal asked to spend $1 on hunger relief for every $1,400 approved in new tax cuts. Officials believe 11 million are facing starvation in central and sub-Saharan Africa.

Dorgan, who befriended Harry and sits on WHY's Board of Advisors, cited Harry's "The Shortest Story" in his comments before Congress. "[Harry] used to say, if one night 45,000 people died of hunger in New Jersey, it would make headlines around the world, giant headlines in every paper in the world. The winds of hunger blow every day, every hour, every minute, and 45,000 people, mostly children, die every day, and it doesn't make the newspaper," Dorgan added.

Click here to read the text of Dorgan's speech.