[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 44 (Thursday, March 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H2897-H2898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   INFANT FORMULA AND THE WIC PROGRAM

  (Mr. KILDEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, in the debate about child nutrition in the 
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities we witnessed the 
triumph of ideology over practical public policy and the best interests 
of our children.
  The Republicans, who espouse a free- market economy, recently 
rejected my amendment to require States to use competitive bidding when 
purchasing infant formula for the WIC Program.
  Only one Republican had the courage to vote for my amendment.
  The only winners from this action are the big three infant formula 
companies. The losers are pregnant women and infants, many of whom will 
suffer from malnutrition or anemia, and the taxpayers who will get less 
efficient use of their tax dollars.
  Some would say that the States will continue to use competitive 
bidding. I would point out that fewer than half the States used 
competitive bidding prior to passage of the 1989 Federal law that 
required them to do so. When this amendment was adopted we found that 
it saved over $1 billion a year and enabled us to serve 1\1/2\ million 
more pregnant women and infants a month. The committee voted to drop 
this requirement.
  Weakening cost containment measures will mean a less efficient, less 
effective program that gives taxpayers less return for their dollars 
but helps the three infant formula companies improve their balance 
sheets.
  Mr. Speaker, this program was designed to help poor women and 
children, not a few 
 [[Page H2898]] major corporations. Let us not take food out of the 
mouths of babies.


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