[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1143 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1143

To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit participating households 
to use food stamp benefits to purchase nutritional supplements, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 9 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

   Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit participating households 
to use food stamp benefits to purchase nutritional supplements, and for 
                            other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (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)(A) 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;
            (B) 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; and
            (C) the Food and Drug Administration 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; and
            (6) 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 OF THE FOOD STAMP ACT OF 1977.

    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 dietary supplement (as defined in section 201(ff) of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(ff)))''.
                                 <all>