[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 36 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CHILD NUTRITION

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me commend the distinguished Senator 
from North Dakota for his eloquent remarks just now and identify with 
them. The Senator from North Dakota commented about the Contract With 
America and its ramifications on school children.
   What I think some of our colleagues forget is that we have had a 
contract in this country for a long time with our school children. At 
the heart of that contract is an understanding about the important role 
that nutrition plays in educating children today.
  Our contract with school children grew out of our experience in World 
War II, when large numbers of young men were unable to serve in the 
military because of nutrition-related childhood illnesses.
  At the same time, many children were coming to school malnourished, 
and because of that, they were unable to learn; and because they were 
unable to learn, they were unable to become productive citizens.
   So even back in the 1940's, Americans recognized the direct 
relationship between nutrition and healthy development and learning. We 
also recognized that what happens in the lunchroom affects what happens 
in the classroom.
  In 1946 President Truman signed the National School Lunch Act--not as 
a matter of charity but as a matter of national security.
   What an cruel irony it would be, Mr. President, if in order to 
prevent our children from inheriting a huge debt tomorrow, we would 
take away their meals today.
  Yet that is exactly what some of our colleagues would now have us do.
  We cannot allow that to happen. Either way, whether we saddle our 
children with debt tomorrow or rob them of their lunch today, we are 
jeopardizing their future, and that is wrong.
  Let us learn from history. The strength of our Nation is not measured 
only by armaments. It is also measured by the health and education of 
our children.
  Talk to the teachers who teach our children. Talk to the men and 
women who run the school cafeterias and make their lunches. Talk to the 
parents who depend on those lunches to make sure their children are 
adequately nourished. They will tell you.
  The reality is that a lot of kids, even today, come to school hungry. 
The reality is that many of them don't get enough to eat at home and, 
if it weren't for the School Lunch Program, they would be too 
malnourished to learn.
  So, Mr. President, this goes beyond simply a matter of nutrition. If 
we deprive children of a balanced meal, we risk depriving them of their 
ability to learn and become productive citizens.
  What a terrible mistake it would be if, in our attempts to reduce the 
national debt, we increased our nutritional debt to our children. What 
a terrible mistake it would be if, in attempting to brighten our 
future, we forgot our past.
  We understood in Harry Truman's time the critical role nutrition 
plays in children's physical and intellectual development. For nearly 
50 years, we have acknowledged the direct link between nutrition and 
education, and between education and the ability to be productive 
citizens.
  When Americans think about cutting government and redtape, taking 
food out of the mouths of children is not what they have in mind.
  This is a provision of the Contract With America, Mr. President, that 
I hope will be short-lived. It denigrates the commitment we have made 
to children, to their education and to their future.
  As the distinguished Senator from North Dakota has indicated, I hope 
that we will recognize the fallacies of this shortsighted proposal and 
retain in this Congress and in Congresses to come a genuine commitment 
to America's children and their well-being.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. COATS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.

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