[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H3703-H3704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    H.R. 4 REWARDS THE RICH, CHEATS THE CHILDREN AND IS WEAK ON WORK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Calvert). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, in one hand I have letters from the students 
of Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco asking President 
Clinton and the Congress not to cut the school lunch program. In the 
other hand I have H.R. 4, the Republican so-called welfare reform bill. 
Mr. Speaker, I hope never the twain shall meet. I hope that the 
children of Cesar Chavez Elementary School, or any of the other 
children throughout this country, never have to feel the pain of this 
legislation. I hope it does not pass.
  Mr. Speaker, why I hope it does not pass is because in this 
legislation is contained provisions that will cut the children's 
nutritional programs, and, yes, even the school lunch programs. Why? 
Because it does not provide enough money to cover all of those programs 
because it does not require the Governors of the States to spend 100 
percent of the school lunch monies that are sent to the State, but only 
80 percent because it eliminates the nutritional standards that are 
contained in the school lunch program presently, because it eliminates 
the eligibility that is contained presently in it so that poor 
children, who really need nutrition, will suffer from this legislation.
  And why is that?
  That is because our Republican colleagues want to save money for a 
tax break for the wealthiest Americans. Why start with children first? 
Women and children first were traditionally those first to the 
lifeboats. Here they are first to the gangplank, to walk the plank.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentleman from California [Mr. Farr]. 
As he comes up, I want him to join me in recognizing that this school 
lunch program cut will cut 503,000 children, will be dropped from the 
school lunch program under the Republican plan in the first year.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why I say that H.R. 4, the Republican so-called 
welfare reform bill, rewards the rich, cheats the children and is weak 
on work, and in our State of California, and the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Farr] and I will place this on the map together--67,900 
children will be cut from the
 school lunch program in just the first year.

  I urge my colleagues to vote no on H.R. 4, and I am pleased to yield 
to my colleague from California.
  [[Page H3704]] Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the 
gentlewoman yielding to me, and I want to bring up a point about H.R. 
4.
  It takes food away from poor kids to fund tax breaks for the wealthy, 
sort of Robin Hood in reverse. According to the California Department 
of Education, each day 745,000 children will no longer be eligible for 
school and child care needs. Almost 1,000,000 kids a day, will no 
longer be eligible for meals.
  H.R. 4 really hurts because it abolishes the donated food program, 
donated food. Right now 49 counties in California have been declared 
natural disasters. More than 6,000 pounds of food has already been 
delivered.
  In the Loma Prieta earthquake 880,000 pounds of food were delivered. 
H.R. 4 eliminates those food donation programs.
  People in my district are livid. A letter from John Cruz, 
superintendent of Fowler Unified School District in Fowler, California, 
writes:

       Living in an agricultural area with a large population of 
     low-income students, I am keenly aware of the negative impact 
     this legislation will have on our students and parents. You 
     can rest assured that a large number of students will come to 
     school hungry. We make every effort to overcome obstacles so 
     that we can effectively educate our students. But hunger has 
     no remedy but a warm meal, served in the comfort of a school 
     cafeteria. I understand that tough decisions must be made, 
     but please don't make them at the expense of our kids.

  This is a bad bill. I urge everyone to oppose it.
  Not to mention the fact that this bill abolishes the donated food 
program--donated food, Mr. Speaker--which is crucial during natural 
disasters like the devastating floods that have pounded my district 
this year. More than 880,000 pounds of food was delivered to needy 
families who fell victim to the natural disasters of the Loma Prieta 
and Northridege earthquakes. Six thousand pounds have already been 
delivered during the recent floods in my district.
  I have received hundreds of letters from community leaders across 
California and throughout the country who are alarmed by the threat 
this GOP bill poses to kids. John Cruz, superintendent, of Fowler 
Unified School District in Fowler, California writes:

       Living in an agricultural area with a large population of 
     low-income students, I am keenly aware of the negative impact 
     this legislation will have on our students and parents. You 
     can rest assured that a large number of students will come to 
     school hungry. We make every effort to overcome obstacles so 
     that we can effectively educate our students. But hunger has 
     no remedy but a warm meal, served in the comfort of a school 
     cafeteria. I understand that tough decisions must be made, 
     but please don't make them at the expense of our kids.

  Suzanne Du Verrier, supervisor for Alisal School District food 
services department in Salinas, California writes:

       School lunch is not a welfare program. Including school 
     lunch in Personal Responsibility Act as a part of the 
     nutrition block grant would become an administrative 
     nightmare for States and the various school districts. All 
     the work that has been done to bring meal requirements into a 
     healthier realm will evaporate. Our Nation's children must 
     not pay for the sins of the Nation's adults.

  Maria Doyle, from Monterey, writes:

       This approach will increase child care costs for low- and 
     middle-income parents, even forcing children out of regulated 
     care and back into latch-key situations.

  Finally, little 8-year-old Annie Brown of Salinas, writes:

       Everyone needs to learn to love, please don't hurt the 
     children.

  Mr. Speaker, don't be mistaken, Democrats across the board are 
demanding change. Democrats want to reform welfare, but we know we can 
do it without putting the health of innocent children at risk.
  Democrats believe that we must move people from welfare to work not 
homeless shelters. We should demand and reward work rather than 
punishing those who go to work. This mean-spirited GOP measure will 
hurt far more than it will help Americans who want to free themselves 
from the destructive grasp of social welfare programs. It will only 
throw them out into the street, without the benefit of the training 
they need for meaningful employment or the child care they need for 
their children.
  H.R. 4 is poorly conceived legislation and deserves to be rejected. 
It's been rushed through Congress for one purpose and one purpose only: 
campaign P.R. and a spot on the nightly news. The children of my 
district can't stand up to this Speaker's bully pulpit, but I can, and 
I encourage my colleagues to do so as well.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from California, 
and I would simply like to rise to oppose H.R. 4 because I think there 
is some misinformation around, and that is that the H.R. 4 does not cut 
school lunch. There is something about a 4.5 percent increase, and let 
me simply say to you that first of all H.R. 4 has no money for school 
lunches, and, second of all, the cash assistance does not take into 
consideration the value of direct food purchases, and there is no 
guaranteed funding level. We in Texas lose some $690 million in school 
nutrition programs or total nutrition programs, and let me tell you 
that the State of Texas loses 58,400 children that will not have lunch.
  Let us vote against H.R. 4. Let us stand for the children.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. 
Jackson-Lee] for her leadership on this issue and for informing us of 
the impact of the Republican cuts in Texas.

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