[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              SCHOOL LUNCH

  (Mr. MEEHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, Democrats are for cutting spending and 
cutting the deficit, but do we really have to start with children?
  There has been a lot of discussion about how much the Republican plan 
would cut the School Lunch Program. So when I went home this weekend, I 
went right to the source. I had lunch with the students at the Dutile 
Elementary School in Billerica, MA. They filled me in on the missing 
details.
  According to school administrators, the Republican plan would cut 
$210,000 a year from the Billerica school lunch program which means 
that 600 students who now get free or reduced lunches will have to find 
some other way to make up the difference.
  Chicken sandwiches and carrot sticks may not seem like much to some 
Members of Congress who are used to dining out with lobbyists at 
Morton's eating thick, juicy steaks. But for the kids at the Dutile 
Elementary School, school lunch is often the only way to get through 
their day.
  There are plenty of places to cut spending on entitlements that will 
not hurt kids, but instead of cutting the wealthy by closing corporate 
welfare tax breaks, the Republican plan takes money away from low-
income school children and hands it over to people making $100,000 a 
year.

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