[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1307 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1307

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 30, 1999

 Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. McConnell) 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 
        providing vitamins or minerals, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Food Stamp Vitamin and Mineral 
Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the dietary patterns of Americans do not result in 
        nutrient intakes that fully meet recommended dietary allowances 
        of vitamins and minerals;
            (2) children in low-income families and 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 diet alone;
            (4)(A) scientific studies show 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 who are capable 
        of becoming pregnant should consume at least 0.4 of a milligram 
        of folic acid per day for the purpose of reducing the risk of 
        having a pregnancy affected with spina bifida or other neural 
        tube birth defects; and
            (C) the Food and Drug Administration has approved a health 
        claim for folic acid to reduce the risk of neural tube birth 
        defects;
            (5) infants who do not receive adequate intakes of iron may 
        be somewhat impaired in mental and behavioral development; and
            (6) scientific evidence indicates that increasing intake of 
        specific nutrients over an extended period of time protects 
        against diseases or conditions such as osteoporosis, cataracts, 
        cancer, and heart disease.

SEC. 3. USE OF FOOD STAMPS TO PURCHASE VITAMINS AND MINERALS.

    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 supplement providing a vitamin or mineral''.
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