H.Res. 239: Supporting ongoing efforts by the United States Government, in concert with the United Nations and the donor community, to respond to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.

115th Congress · introduced 2017-04-03 · International Affairs · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

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Where it came from: introduced 2017-04-03 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-16] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Supporting ongoing efforts by the United States Government, in concert with the United Nations and the donor community, to respond to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.

Plain summary

Commends: the Department of State's and the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID's) timely response to early warning signals of drought in the Horn of Africa and for providing substantial assistance for the humanitarian response in FY2016 and FY2017; USAID's quick deployment of a Disaster Assistance Response Team in response to the previous drought in northeastern and central Ethiopia; the Somali diaspora for spearheading the response to humanitarian needs in Somalia; the work of United Nations and nongovernmental organizations in providing sustained life-saving assistance to vulnerable populations across the Horn of Africa; and USAID for its work to mitigate the impact of environmental shocks to pastoralist communities across the Horn of Africa. Calls on: the State Department and USAID to continue providing long-term development supporting programs that build resilience, protect livelihoods, strengthen global food security, and provide drought relief and emergency food assistance; the President to appoint high-level officials to engage the international community in responding to this crisis; the government of Kenya to publicly declare that the Dadaab refugee complex will remain open and to respect prima facie status for new arrivals from Somalia; and the U.S. government and the international community to continue life-saving assistance and development activities to alleviate drought and food insecurity in the region.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

A Yea supports adopting this resolution.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Supporting ongoing efforts by the United States Government, in concert with the United Nations and the donor community, to respond to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-16] · 32 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL), Norma J. Torres (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), William R. Keating (D-MA)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Resolution: A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
Roll-call vote: A vote where each member's position is recorded by name, so the public can see how every member voted. "Yea" means yes, "Nay" means no, "Present" means the member was there but did not take a side.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hres239.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hres>

Record fed-us-cong115-hres239 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115