U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, is pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately rectify mounting delays with the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and address root causes of the situation.
Tribal families have been experiencing extreme disruptions in food deliveries, including receiving partial deliveries, deliveries of expired products, or no deliveries at all over the past four months.
Friday, Heinrich joined U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and a bipartisan group of senators to send a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take immediate action to rectify mounting delays with 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.)—stressed the urgency of the situation and pushed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to swiftly and fully address the unfolding crisis with the federal program that provides food deliveries to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations and to Native American households residing in designated areas.
The senators wrote, “In March 2024, USDA consolidated the food delivery contractors to one sole-source contractor, Paris Brothers, Inc. in Kansas City, MO. Since that change went into effect April 1, 2024, participating Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) began to experience ‘poradic deliveries, or incorrect orders and compromised best if used by dates.’ Participating households have not had consistent food deliveries for over four months. This is unacceptable.”
“We appreciate that USDA is hosting weekly calls with impacted ITOs, but delays persist and there is no timeline to resolve this issue and fully restore on-time food deliveries. Tribal leadership, low-income families, and the community-at-large have been diligently working to fill the gap; however, USDA must take immediate action to restore full operation of the FDPIR program and end the uncertainty looming over countless families,” the senators continued. “We urge the USDA to engage in emergency tribal consultation and restore food deliveries and operation of the FDPIR program. USDA must promptly establish plans to prevent a situation like this from occurring in the future.”
Today, Heinrich joined House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and leaders on the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, in an additional letter demanding answers from Secretary Vilsack regarding the recent failures under USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) contract. The lawmakers requested comprehensive information to understand the origins of this alarming situation—including detailed and specific questions—and demanded that USDA implement action to ensure it is resolved quickly with durable, long-term solutions.
Lawmakers who signed this second letter include Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Senate Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member John Hoeven (R-N.D.), House Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), House Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), House Interior Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), and House Interior Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).
The lawmakers wrote, “As Members of both chambers of Congress and leaders of the Committees and Subcommittees on Appropriations, we are alarmed to only recently have learned about the food shortage crisis that has been inflicted upon our nation’s Tribes. We were made aware of this issue from Tribes across the country, who are now in a dire situation because of a failure to ensure food has been received by Tribes in a timely manner through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). The program serves some of the most vulnerable people in our country, and recipients have reported bare shelves, having received expired food items, and inconsistent food deliveries for over four months. Tribes are deeply worried about when food will arrive and when USDA will resolve this situation. It is the federal government’s responsibility to uphold its trust and treaty obligations to Tribes, and this situation must be resolved immediately. We have also been alerted to similar potential issues with the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). As you know, seniors rely on this supplemental food, and any delay is unacceptable.”
Full text of the first letter can be found here.