The U.S. government is actively working to fix this problem, by both feeding people today and helping them feed themselves in the future. USAID leads U.S. government efforts to address global food insecurity and hunger, and to prevent famine. We also address the root causes of hunger and help people build resilience. My colleague Beth Dunford, who leads the whole U.S. government Feed the Future initiative, will say more about this following my remarks.

The United States is the world’s largest provider of food assistance. Helping people in times of crisis is core to our American values. The office that I am privileged to lead, the USAID’s Office for Food for Peace, delivered more than $3 billion U.S. dollars of food assistance to nearly 70 million people in more than 50 countries last year. This year, we’ve worked in 28 African countries facing natural or manmade emergencies. In South Sudan, we feed an average of 1.5 million people per month and help to roll back famine that was declared in parts of South Sudan in February 2017.

In the Northern Triangle, our approach fits well within the U.S. strategy for Central America, but just as importantly. It's closely aligned with your government's alliance to prosperity. Moving forward, our road maps confirm that infrastructure -- energy in particular -- is a key constraint in the journey to prosperity. Earlier today, I know that you had very productive discussions on the advancement to growth and integration of energy markets. As I hope you've heard, USAID is a champion of the Regional Clean Energy initiative. For example, just last year, we supported an auction of 170 megawatts of renewable energy to help El Salvador achieve its lowest-ever solar energy crisis. We view this as merely a down payment on the work that all of us here can do together. We hope to co-design and co-finance new energy initiatives with the IDB and with private enterprise, and we believe that some of the technical support that we can help offer will shorten the time from planning to market.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Knights of Columbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding Thursday that will facilitate partnerships to help communities in the Middle East recover from genocide and persecution. The partnership between USAID and the Knights of Columbus is a cornerstone of the Vice President's commitment to helping communities recover in the wake of the genocidal campaign waged by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Yesterday, President Trump signed into law the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Senators Isakson and Casey, and Representatives Smith and McCollum, with the strong support of Senators Corker and Menendez and Representatives Royce and Engel. This reauthorization is a powerful reaffirmation of the United States' commitment to ending global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.

On Wednesday, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met with Ambassador Agustín García-López, Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID). In the meeting, Administrator Green expressed his appreciation for Ambassador García-López's commitment to U.S.-Mexican cooperation. The two also discussed how to deepen the partnership between USAID and AMEXCID, particularly related to work the United States and Mexico are doing together in the Northern Triangle of Central America.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced three new partnerships to mobilize skilled volunteers in support of growing women-owned businesses, supporting youth entrepreneurship, and promoting conservation around the world.  The partnerships will deploy skilled volunteers on long-term and short-term assignments to provide business services and training.

I congratulate both Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. In a world too often torn apart by conflict, discrimination, and hate, heroes like Ms. Murad and Dr. Mukwege show us that progress toward peace is possible. Both inspire us to answer the moral imperative to protect children, women, and other vulnerable populations.

As I have said on a number of occasions, the ultimate goal of development assistance must be to work towards the day when it is no longer necessary, and we should measure our work by how far every one of our investments moves us closer to that day. At the heart of our work is the core belief that each country must lead its own development journey. USAID is realigning its policies, strategies, programs, and investments to support our partner countries on what we call their "Journey to Self-Reliance."

I welcome the passage of the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018. The provisions of the BUILD Act fully aligns with the President's National Security Strategy and the Reshaping American Government in the 21st Century reorganization and reform plan.