[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  H.R. 4 CUTS CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand H.R. 4, the Republican so-
called welfare reform package. I urge everyone to read this, to read 
this and weep. Because in the attempt to improve the welfare system, 
which we all agree needs to be reformed, our Republican colleagues have 
cut--yes, cut--the children's nutrition programs that have been an 
entitlement for America's poor and hungry children for over 50 years.
  Our colleagues on the Republican side will wave a CRS report that 
says they do not cut the School Lunch Program, but they are avoiding 
the issue. Because what we are talking about is the children's 
nutrition program, which includes school lunch, which includes the 
afternoon program and summer programs for children whose parents work 
and who need child care, something we are trying to encourage: work.
  And if you just want to talk about school lunch, let's talk about 
that. The funds that this bill, H.R. 4, puts in here gives the 
Governors the authority to spend only 80 percent of the money. They do 
not have to spend 100 percent. They remove the entitlement; they remove 
the nutritional standards. Poor children lose a lot in this bill, which 
rewards the rich, cheats the children, and is weak on work.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against it.

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