[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 236 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 236

To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit participating households 
   to use food stamp benefits to purchase nutritional supplements of 
             vitamins, minerals, or vitamins and minerals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 1995

 Mr. Emerson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit participating households 
   to use food stamp benefits to purchase nutritional supplements of 
             vitamins, minerals, or vitamins and minerals.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The dietary patterns of Americans do not result in 
        nutrient intakes that fully meet Recommended Dietary Allowances 
        (RDAs) of vitamins and minerals.
            (2) The elderly often fail to achieve adequate nutrient 
        intakes from diet alone.
            (3) Pregnant women have particularly high nutrient needs, 
        which they often fail to meet through dietary means alone.
            (4) Many scientific studies have shown that nutritional 
        supplements that contain folic acid (a B vitamin) can prevent 
        as many as 60 to 80 percent of neural tube birth defects. The 
        Public Health Service, in September 1992, recommended that 
        ``all women of childbearing age in the United States who are 
        capable of becoming pregnant should consume 0.4 mg of folic 
        acid per day for the purpose of reducing their risk of having a 
        pregnancy affected with spina bifida or other neural tube birth 
        defects.'' The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also 
        approved a health claim for folic acid to reduce the risk of 
        neural tube birth defects.
            (5) Infants who fail to receive adequate intakes of iron 
        may be somewhat impaired in their mental and behavioral 
        development.
            (6) Children in low-income families often fail to achieve 
        nutritional goals from diet alone.
            (7) A massive volume of credible scientific evidence 
        strongly suggests that increasing intake of specific nutrients 
        over an extended period of time may be helpful in protecting 
        against diseases or conditions such as osteoporosis, cataracts, 
        cancer, and heart disease.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT.

    Section 3(g)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(g)(1)) 
is amended by striking ``or food product'' and inserting ``food 
product, or nutritional supplements of vitamins, minerals, or vitamins 
and minerals.''
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