Congressional Hunger Center

House Select Committee on Hunger

The House Select Committee on Hunger, founded in 1983 by Representatives Benjamin Gilman, Mickey Leland, and Tony Hall, sought viable solutions to domestic and global hunger and poverty. Leland, a Democrat from Texas, was a strong advocate for ending hunger and chaired the committee until his death during a 1989 humanitarian mission to the Horn of Africa. Hall then chaired the committee until the House of Representatives voted to eliminate all such select committees in 1993.

Hall's fast in protest of the House action galvanized bipartisan support for the establishment of the CHC. He and Republican Representative Bill Emerson from Missouri served as the CHC's first cochairs of a diverse board of directors representing the food industry, hunger policy experts, entertainment industry activists, and members of Congress. In 2005 U.S. Representatives Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican from Missouri, and James P. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, chaired the bipartisan CHC Board of Directors.

Leadership Programs

In 1994 CHC established a national antihunger leadership program under the auspices of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). In 1996 and 1997 the CHC's Beyond Food program placed 100 hunger activists in four states. Second-year Fellows were placed with pol-icy/advocacy organizations such as Food Research and Action Center, Bread for the World, and Share Our Strength. CHC cosponsored the first National Summit on Food Recovery and Gleaning. In 1999 Congress provided funds to establish the Mickey Leland International and Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowships. In 2004 CHC partnered with the UPS Foundation to convene the first National Hunger Forum, in Washington, D.C. By 2005 over 500 antihunger leaders had been trained in CHC programs. Program and advocacy efforts were being expanded to include close collaboration with the newly formed Senate and House Hunger Caucuses.

The Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program places Fellows for six months in urban and rural community-based organizations involved in fighting hunger at the local level, followed by six months of work in national advocacy organizations, think tanks, and federal agencies.

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