[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FEDERAL FOOD ASSISTANCE

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, for more than 50 years this Nation has had 
a commitment to its children. In less than 50 days some have moved to 
abandon that commitment, and by doing so, to abandon our children.
  This Nation is strong not because of its military might or its 
technology. This Nation is strong because of its compassion. We care 
about those among us who are weak; the young, the old, the poor, the 
frail, and the disabled.
  If our citizens are weak, we are weak as a nation.
  Last year we spent just $26 per American taxpayer for AFDC programs. 
Child nutrition programs represented just one-half of 1 percent of the 
total Federal budget outlay of 1994. The average food stamp benefit is 
served for 75 cents per meal, just 75 cents.
  Children are not driving up our deficit. Senior citizens are not the 
cause of our economic woes. Programs for the poor do not represent 
pork.
  Indeed, confronting hunger in America is a serious matter, not a 
partisan matter. It is a moral matter. It is irresponsible to put 
children's and our senior citizens' health at risk.


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