US SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately resolve increasing delays in the Food Distribution Program for Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and address the root causes of the situation.
Over the past four months, tribal families have experienced significant disruptions in food supplies, including partial deliveries, deliveries of expired products, or no deliveries at all.
On Friday, Heinrich joined U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and a bipartisan group of senators to a letter calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take immediate action to address mounting delays in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). The letter — signed by U.S. Senators Heinrich, Merkley, Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) — emphasized the urgency of the situation and urged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to quickly and comprehensively address the developing crisis with the federal program, which provides food deliveries to income-eligible households on Indian reservations and to Native American households in designated areas.
The senators wrote: “In March 2024, USDA consolidated food suppliers into a single contractor, Paris Brothers, Inc. of Kansas City, MO. Since this change took effect on April 1, 2024, participating Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) have experienced ‘sporadic deliveries or incorrect orders and compromised expiration dates.’ Participating households have not received regular food deliveries for over four months. This is unacceptable.”
“We appreciate that USDA is conducting weekly conference calls with affected ITOs, but delays continue to occur and there is no timeline to resolve this issue and fully restore timely food deliveries. Tribal leadership, low-income families, and the entire community have worked diligently to close the gap. However, USDA must take immediate action to restore full operations of the FDPIR program and end the uncertainty hanging over countless families,” the Senators continued. “We urge USDA to conduct emergency consultations with tribes and restore food deliveries and operations of the FDPIR program. USDA must immediately develop plans to prevent a situation like this in the future.”
Today, Heinrich, along with House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and the Chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, sent another letter demanding answers from Secretary Vilsack regarding recent failures under USDA’s Food Distribution Program for Indian Reservations (FDPIR) contract. The lawmakers requested comprehensive information to understand the origins of this alarming situation – including detailed and specific questions – and urged USDA to take action to ensure the situation is remedied quickly and with permanent, long-term solutions.
Signatory Members of Parliament this second letter They include House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine), Senate Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member John Hoeven (R-N.D.), House Agriculture Subcommittee Chairwoman Andy Harris (R-Md.), House Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), House Interior Subcommittee Chairwoman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), and House Interior Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).
The lawmakers wrote: “As members of both houses of Congress and chairs of the Appropriations committees and subcommittees, we are alarmed to have only recently learned of the food shortages that have rocked our nation’s tribes. We have been made aware of this issue by tribes across the country who are now in dire straits because of their failure to ensure that tribes receive food in a timely manner through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). The program serves some of the most vulnerable people in our nation, and recipients have reported empty shelves, expired food, and erratic food deliveries for over four months. Tribes are deeply concerned about when the food will arrive and when USDA will resolve this situation. It is the federal government’s responsibility to meet its trust and treaty obligations to tribes, and this situation must be resolved immediately. We have also been made aware of similar potential issues with the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). As you know, seniors depend on this supplementary nutrition and any delay is unacceptable.”
The full text of the first letter can be found Here.
