[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                BLOCK-GRANT PROPOSAL LOSER FOR MISSOURI

  (Ms. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I am for the balanced budget and I am for 
welfare reform. Last weekend in my district, I met with concerned child 
care advocates at a place called Cradles and Crayons which takes care 
of the medically fragile children in my community. The room was packed 
with school nutritionists, child care providers, administrators, 
parents, and concerned citizens. I listened and I learned. They are 
unanimous in their concern regarding how we balance the budget and 
reform our welfare system, and their particular concern was with this 
proposal for block grants for children's programs, particularly the 
Children's Nutrition Program.
  Their historical experience has been that when the Federal Government 
block grants, that usually means less money. Their outrage was around a 
program such as school lunches and that a program that had worked for 
over 40 years would be in jeopardy as a result of this block-grant 
concept. In the Independence district alone, Harry Truman's home 
district, they were going to lose $500,000 under the block-grant 
proposal put forward by the Republicans. The story was the same in 
Grandview, in Raytown, all over my district. The State of Missouri 
would lose lunches for 150,000 children.
  Mr. Speaker, the message was clear: ``If it ain't broke, don't fix 
it.'' Congress needs to balance its budget but not on the bellies of 
our children.


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