[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 71 (Thursday, June 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       IN RECOGNITION OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WIC PROGRAM

                                 ______


                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 8, 1994

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, this year is the 20th anniversary of a very 
successful Federal program, the Supplemental Food Program for Women, 
Infants and Children [WIC]. In honor of the occasion and my fellow 
Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey, who helped to bring the program to life, I 
am submitting the following editorial from the May 27, Minneapolis Star 
Tribune noting the past successes and the further potential of the WIC 
program.

                               WIC at 20


                   two decades of feeding the future

       When Minnesotans muse upon the gifts Hubert Humphrey gave 
     them, they may not think first about well-fed kids. But they 
     should. Back in the early '70s, the senator was the godfather 
     of a two-year experiment called the Special Supplemental Food 
     Program for Women, Infants and Children. In the 20 years 
     since, that idea has rescued millions of low-income mothers 
     and kids from the brink of malnutrition. Born of one man's 
     imagination, WIC has become poignant proof of government's 
     power to ease human misery.
       WIC's simple purpose is to secure the future by putting 
     food into the mouths of babes and mothers. Convinced that 
     hunger inflicts permanent damage on developing children, 
     Humphrey and his allies wanted to give low-income pregnant 
     mothers and young kids a weekly supply of milk, cheese, 
     juice, cereal and peanut butter. Yet even after Congress 
     approved the plan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture took 
     little action to implement it. WIC's promise was unfulfilled 
     until lawsuits and congressional pressure forced the USDA to 
     launch the program in January of 1974. By year's end, WIC was 
     feeding 205,000 needy people in 45 states.
       Today, it's no overstatement to call WIC a raving success. 
     The program has blossomed into a network of 9,000 clinics 
     nationwide feeding more than 6 million people a year. WIC's 
     benefits aren't just for those in rock-bottom poverty, but 
     for any low-income working family at nutritional risk. And 
     WIC gives its clients more than just calories. It dispenses 
     medical services and nutritional advice as well--all in hopes 
     of growing healthier children.
       WIC seems to grow them very well. A flurry of studies links 
     prenatal participation in WIC with a dramatic reduction in 
     premature births and infant mortality and an increase in 
     birth weight and infant head size. Research also shows that 
     WIC participation reduces anemia and improves cognitive 
     performance among preschoolers.
       WIC brings another kind of payoff, too: It saves money that 
     would otherwise be spent trying to salvage premature and 
     malnourished youngsters. Over the long haul, the dividends 
     may be eye-popping: A recent General Accounting Office report 
     found that, in 1990, the federal government spent $296 
     million on prenatal WIC benefits--and thereby averted $853 
     million in health-related costs during the first year of 
     life. And over the 18 years it will take the infants to grow 
     up, the GAO estimated, that initial one-year prenatal 
     investment will avert more than $1 billion in health-related 
     costs--leading to a net savings of $740 million.
       Despite WIC's remarkable ability to save lives and money in 
     a fell swoop, it remains underfunded. A handful of states, 
     including Minnesota, choose to supplement federal funding. 
     But even so, the program serves only about 65 percent of the 
     eligible population--leaving 3 million at-risk children and 
     pregnant women in the lunch.
       It seems foolish to scrimp on a proven cost-saver--
     especially one that corporate CEOs laud as ``the health-care 
     equivalent of a triple A investment.'' President Clinton has 
     set the stage for capitalizing on the investment by calling 
     for full WIC funding by the end of fiscal year 1996. By 
     assenting, Congress can bring to full flower a budding notion 
     from a Minnesota senator.

                          ____________________