[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 65--RELATING TO CHILDREN IN POVERTY

  Mr. LEAHY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:

                            S. Con. Res. 65

       Whereas the special supplemental food program for women, 
     infants, and children (WIC) established under section 17 of 
     the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) saves 
     medical costs by preventing low birth weight, reducing 
     anemia, and increasing immunizations;
       Whereas a study conducted by the General Accounting Office 
     concluded that WIC reduces the incidence of very low birth 
     weight by 44 percent;
       Whereas a 1993 study conducted by the Secretary of 
     Agriculture found that savings attributable to WIC, due to 
     the reduction of very low birth weight, ranged from 
     $2,300,000 in Florida to $4,500,000 in North Carolina in 
     reduced medical assistance costs under title XIX of the 
     Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.);
       Whereas a study released by the Secretary of Agriculture in 
     1991 demonstrated that for each dollar spent on a pregnant 
     woman under the WIC program, the associated savings in 
     medical assistance costs for illnesses beginning in the first 
     60 days after birth ranged from $1.92 to $4.21 for newborns 
     and mothers and from $2.98 to $4.75 for newborns only;
       Whereas a study conducted by the General Accounting Office 
     found that WIC benefits provided to all eligible pregnant 
     women would more than pay for themselves in 1 year and would 
     avert more than $1,000,000,000 in health-related costs over 
     an 18-year period;
       Whereas the WIC program reduces iron deficient anemia, 
     which affects 25 nearly percent of poor children in the 
     United States and is associated with impaired cognitive 
     development and increases in the risk of lead poisoning;
       Whereas the WIC program reduces fetal death and infant 
     mortality;
       Whereas the United States ranks below 20 other countries in 
     infant mortality rates and behind 73 other countries in 
     percentage of infants born at low birth weigh;
       Whereas the Tufts University Center on Hunger, Poverty, and 
     Nutrition Policy found that even short-term undernutrition 
     jeopardizes the physical health, brain development, and 
     cognitive functioning of young children;
       Whereas 4- and 5-year olds whose mothers participated in 
     the WIC program during pregnancy demonstrate higher 
     vocabulary test scores, and children who participated in the 
     WIC program after the 1st birthday of the children score 
     higher on memory tests;
       Whereas in 1991 corporate executive officers of 5 major 
     corporations testified at a congressional hearing about the 
     need to fully fund the WIC program by 1996 and concluded that 
     ``each pregnant woman, infant, and child who could benefit 
     from WIC but is left out of the program represents a 
     potential drain on budgetary outlays in subsequent years and 
     on our Nation's future economic growth, not to mention a 
     tragic loss in human potential'';
       Whereas more than 3,000,000 women, infants, and children 
     are eligible but are not currently served by the WIC program; 
     and
       Whereas 1994 is the 20th anniversary of the WIC program: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This resolution may be cited as the ``A Child is Waiting 
     Resolution''.

     SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FULL FUNDING FOR WIC PROGRAM.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) any health care reform legislation passed by Congress 
     include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental 
     food program for women, infants, and children (WIC) 
     established under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 
     1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) so that all eligible women, infants, 
     and children who apply could be served by the end of fiscal 
     year 1996 and full funding could be maintained through fiscal 
     year 2000; and
       (2) at least $3,564,000,000, should be made available for 
     fiscal year 1995 to move toward the full funding goal 
     described in paragraph (1).

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. president, every fifth child in America lives in 
poverty. Fifteen percent of our homeless population are children. Their 
numbers are increasing faster than any other segment of the homeless 
population. Better than four in 10 recipients of emergency food 
assistance are children.
  I am joined today by my friend and colleague, Senator Jim Jeffords, 
in introducing a resolution that expresses a bipartisan effort to 
reverse these trends. Vermont puts partisan differences aside when it 
comes to feeding children. In a show of support for the Women, Infants 
and Children [WIC] feeding program, Vermont will be the first State in 
the union to mark the twentieth anniversary of this program. On Monday, 
April 4, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy will join us in Burlington to 
celebrate the occasion.
  WIC deserves special recognition. It feeds hungry infants and 
children, prevents low birthweight, reduces anemia and increases 
childhood immunizations. WIC ranks among the most successful nutrition 
and health programs anywhere. It dispenses food, educates the public on 
proper nutrition, health assessments and medically prescribed 
supplements. It also saves the American taxpayer lots of money.
  The resolution that Mr. Jeffords and I offer today guarantees that 
full funding of the WIC program will be included in any health care 
reform approved by Congress.
  The initiative has the support of Bread for the World, which has 
worked tirelessly, for two decades, on behalf of America's children. 
Let me pause here to thank this great, humanitarian organization and 
the participating churches and committed membership, who has worked so 
hard, for so long, in support of the WIC program. They have kept the 
issue of childhood poverty squarely in the forefront of our national 
conscience.
  President Clinton strongly supports full funding of WIC in his Health 
Security Act, which Senator Jeffords courageously supports with members 
on this side of the aisle.
  Greater investment in WIC produces immediate savings in federal 
health care spending. For every dollar spent on proper nutrition and a 
healthy diet can save 3 dollars in medical costs related to 
undernutrition and poor health later on. It adds a practical dimension 
to our moral responsibility to support this program.
  The United States ranks below 20 western countries in infant 
mortality. The richest, most powerful nation on earth ranks 74th in 
percentage of low birthweight infants, A WIC program capable of helping 
every eligible American family will dramatically reversed this shameful 
statistic.
  A General Accounting Office report showed that WIC reduced the 
incidence of very low birth weight by 44 percent. A study released by 
the Secretary of Agriculture last year showed dollar savings in reduced 
Medicaid costs ranged from $2.3 million in Florida to $4.5 million in 
North Carolina.
  GAO calculated that the government investment paid for itself within 
a year--and averted $1 billion more in medical expenses through the age 
of 18.
  Savings are generated when fewer newborns need emergency, intensive 
medical care. It stand to reason that healthier babies mean fewer 
medical problems.
  Low birthweight infants are at greater risk to developmental 
handicaps, birth defects, infectious diseases, behavior problems and 
other complications.
  Failure to take preventative steps by providing proper nutrition 
drives up the cost of health care and contributed to the crisis that is 
crippling our economy.
  Vermont has long recognized WIC as a prudent investment in America's 
future. We are one of the few States that provides services to every 
eligible applicant.
  But despite WIC's 20-year record of outstand public service, there 
are millions of eligible women, infants and children who receive no 
benefits.
  They are cut off--not because they weren't entitled--but because 
there wasn't money enough in the program to meet their need.
  Mr. President, a child needs our help. Health care reform provides 
this Congress a historic opportunity to ensure guaranteed full funding 
of the WIC program though the year 2000.
  I applaud the vision of the President and his courage in including 
WIC full funding in his health care package. This resolution asks that 
WIC full funding be a part of whatever health care reform passed by the 
Congress. It is my hope that each of my colleagues will share this 
vision and join with Senator Jeffords and me as cosponsors of this 
resolution.
 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I am pleased today to join 
Senator Leahy in introducing a resolution calling on Congress to 
include full funding for the Special Supplement Food Program for Women, 
Infants and Children in whatever health package is enacted.
  I am confident that health care reform will pass, and I commend 
Senator Leahy for his leadership on this issue. No one has done more 
for nutrition programs than he, and this is but one more example of his 
dedication.
  In this, he is following in the footsteps of another Vermonter and 
chairman of the Agriculture Committee, George Aiken, who reportedly 
espoused a rather simple approach to designing Federal nutrition 
programs for children. It was: ``Feed them all.'' While in these days 
of tight budgets we may not be able to fulfill that vision, we should 
at least feed all of the women, infants and children who qualify for 
the WIC program based on financial and nutritional need.
  Senator Leahy has thoroughly outlined the purpose and dramatic 
results of the WIC program. The only point I would add is one that came 
out in testimony before the Labor Committee 2 weeks ago. Dr. Deborah 
Frank came before the committee to testify on energy assistance, but 
the point she made is just as important here.
  Dr. Frank is a pediatrician in Boston. For 3 years, she and her 
colleagues have studied children passing through the emergency room of 
Boston City Hospital. They found that although the conventional 
scientific wisdom is that seasonal malnutrition is a phenomenon limited 
to preindustrialized societies, the conventional wisdom is wrong. In 
Boston, and no doubt throughout America, when it gets cold, more money 
is consumed by fuel bills, and less money is available to feed 
children. As temperatures fall, children lose weight.
  The children followed in this study were almost all poor and all were 
between 6 and 24 months old. These infants and toddlers were at a 
critical stage in their development, when brain growth should be rapid. 
We don't know what will happen to each of them. But we do know that 
malnourished children are at greater immediate health risk, and at 
greater risk for long term effects such as failure in school and 
deficits in attention and social behavior.
  The impact that WIC could have on these children is enormous. And the 
impact on women and newborns in the WIC program, as Senator Leahy has 
noted, is even more dramatic.
  If there is one theme that runs through the debate on health care, I 
think it is that we devote far too little attention to preventive care 
in our country. From the most conservative Republican to the most 
liberal Democrat, I think you would find near universal agreement that 
we need to change the design of our current system to focus more on 
promoting and rewarding wellness rather than reacting to sickness.
  That is why I hope we can get overwhelming support from our 
colleagues on this resolution. Every one of us, regardless of our 
feelings toward the larger issues of health care reform, should be able 
to agree that the WIC program should be part of the health care package 
that is ultimately adopted by the Congress and sent to the President.
  The WIC program has been in place for 20 years now, and we know that 
it works. It is the very low-cost, low-tech type of preventive 
intervention that we all want to emphasize in our health care system. 
And it saves money, both for the Federal Government and society as a 
whole.
  But most importantly, it saves lives. And if that isn't what health 
care reform is all about, then we had better reexamine our purpose. WIC 
may not have received the notice of the other components of heath care 
reform, but it is every bit as important.
  President Clinton was right to include full funding of WIC in the 
health care bill he introduced. Not it is up to all of us--in Congress 
and across the country--to make sure it is in the bill he signs. I know 
we will have great support in our efforts, and I particularly want to 
commend Bread for the World for its support of the WIC program, and for 
the compassion, commitment and common sense of its many members.
  A child is waiting, Mr. President. A child is waiting for the food 
shelf to open tommorrow morning, for the food stamps next week to 
replace those exhausted, for the delivery of surplus commodities who 
knows when. A child is waiting for the sustenance and medical attention 
of the WIC program. And a child is waiting for we adults, who are 
entrusted by the Constitution and our own oath for her care, to finally 
fulfill the promise of equality that for too many is now belied by an 
empty belly.
  Again, I deeply appreciate the leadership demonstrated by the 
President on this issue. And I commend Senator Leahy for once again 
advancing the cause of nutrition in our country. I look forward to, and 
will work to secure, the overwhelming support of our 
colleagues.

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