[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6203 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6203

   To provide for certain waivers of program requirements under the 
 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to appropriately address 
   safety measures with respect to COVID-19, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2020

Ms. Bonamici (for herself and Mr. Comer) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for certain waivers of program requirements under the 
 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to appropriately address 
   safety measures with respect to COVID-19, 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 ``COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response 
Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM REQUIREMENT WAIVERS ADDRESSING 
              COVID-19.

    (a) Nationwide Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the Secretary may establish a waiver for all States under 
        section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(l)), for purposes of--
                    (A) providing meals and meal supplements under a 
                qualified program; and
                    (B) carrying out subparagraph (A) with appropriate 
                safety measures with respect to COVID-19, as determined 
                by the Secretary.
            (2) State election.--A waiver established under paragraph 
        (1) shall--
                    (A) notwithstanding paragraph (2) of section 12(l) 
                of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1760(l)), apply automatically to any State that 
                elects to be subject to the waiver without further 
                application; and
                    (B) not be subject to the requirements under 
                paragraph (3) of such section.
    (b) Child and Adult Care Food Program Waiver.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Secretary may grant a waiver under section 
12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1760(l)) to allow non-congregate feeding under a child and adult care 
food program under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) if such waiver is for the purposes of--
            (1) providing meals and meal supplements under such child 
        and adult care food program; and
            (2) carrying out paragraph (1) with appropriate safety 
        measures with respect to COVID-19, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
    (c) Meal Pattern Waiver.--Notwithstanding paragraph (4)(A) of 
section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
U.S.C. 1760(l)) the Secretary may grant a waiver under such section 
that relates to the nutritional content of meals served if the 
Secretary determines that--
            (1) such waiver is necessary to provide meals and meal 
        supplements under a qualified program; and
            (2) there is a supply chain disruption with respect to 
        foods served under such a qualified program and such disruption 
        is due to COVID-19.
    (d) Reports.--Each State that receives a waiver under subsection 
(a), (b), or (c), shall, not later than 1 year after the date such 
State received such waiver, submit a report to the Secretary that 
includes the following:
            (1) A summary of the use of such waiver by the State and 
        eligible service providers.
            (2) A description of whether such waiver resulted in 
        improved services to children.
    (e) Sunset.--The authority of the Secretary to establish or grant a 
waiver under this section shall expire on July 31, 2020.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Qualified program.--The term ``qualified program'' 
        means the following:
                    (A) The school lunch program under the Richard B. 
                Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 
                seq.).
                    (B) The school breakfast program under section 4 of 
                the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
                    (C) The child and adult care food program under 
                section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
                Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766).
                    (D) The summer food service program for children 
                under section 13 of the Richard B. Russell National 
                School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
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