[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 40 (Friday, March 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


HUNGRY CHILDREN AT RISK IN MOVE TO BLOCK GRANT THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM

  (Mr. BALDACCI asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, block granting the School Lunch Program, 
as called for in Contract With America, places our Nation's most 
precious natural resource--its children--at risk.
  We can and should look for ways to improve the School Lunch Program. 
But we cannot create a block grant, cut the funding, and expect the 
States to do more with less.
  This is not, as some would have us believe, a deficit reduction 
issue. We need to balance the Federal budget. But we cannot do it on 
the backs of children. Helen Rankin, a school food service director in 
Maine, expressed this sentiment very eloquently to me. She said:

       As an adult, I am willing to make sacrifices to reduce the 
     deficit, but let us not begin by slashing funds for 
     defenseless children who cannot speak for themselves and do 
     not have the right to vote. As we look after the hungry 
     children of the world, let us continue to protect our own.

  This is an ill-considered and mean spirited proposal, and it should 
be soundly rejected by this Congress.


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