[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H4910-H4913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTHY MEALS FOR CHILDREN ACT

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2006) to amend the National School Lunch Act to provide 
greater flexibility to schools to meet the Dietary Guidelines for 
Americans under the school lunch and school breakfast programs, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2066

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Meals for Children 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASED FLEXIBILITY FOR SCHOOLS TO MEET THE DIETARY 
                   GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS UNDER THE NATIONAL 
                   SCHOOL LUNCH ACT.

       Section 9(f)(2) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1758(f)(2)) is amended by striking subparagraph (D) and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(D) Use of any reasonable approach.--
       ``(i) In general.--A school food service authority may use 
     any reasonable approach, within guidelines established by the 
     Secretary in a timely manner, to meet the requirements of 
     this paragraph, including--
       ``(I) using the school nutrition meal pattern in effect for 
     the 1994--1995 school year; and
       ``(II) using any of the approaches described in 
     subparagraph (C).
       ``(ii) Nutrient analysis.--The Secretary may not require a 
     school to conduct or use a nutrient analysis to meet the 
     requirements of this paragraph.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller] will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling].

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in support of H.R. 2066 which amends the School Lunch 
Program to provide schools flexibility in demonstrating how they have 
met the dietary guidelines for Americans.
  This bill not only has bipartisan support in Congress, it has the 
support of the American School Food Service Association, the American 
Association of School Administrators, the National School Boards 
Association, and the Association of School Business Officials.
  During the 103d Congress, the National School Lunch Program was 
modified to require schools to meet the dietary guidelines for 
Americans under the school lunch and breakfast programs. I supported 
this change.
  The law permitted schools to use nutrient-based menu planning, 
assisted nutrient-based menu planning or a food-based menu system, 
which was the only method of menu planning used under prior law, as 
long as they met the dietary guidelines. On Tuesday, June 13, 1995, the 
Department of Agriculture published their final regulations on the 
school meal initiatives for healthy Americans. Unfortunately, these 
regulations did not meet congressional intent with respect to providing 
schools with flexibility in how they demonstrated they were in 
compliance with the dietary guidelines.
  Schools throughout the Nation expressed concern about the 
implementation of these final regulations. Of special concern were 
changes to the food-based menu system which had the potential of adding 
from 5 to 10 cents to the cost of school meals. The reason for the 
increased cost was a requirement that schools add additional servings 
of grains, bread, and fruits and vegetables to school meals. Even 
schools currently meeting the dietary guidelines under the previous 
food-based menu plan would have to enact such changes. The alternative 
would be to use the nutrient standard menu plan, which would require 
schools to make a significant investment in computer hardware and 
require extensive training and technical assistance to implement the 
new software and procedures associated with this plan.
  On July 1995, I introduced H.R. 2066 with my colleague on the 
committee, George Miller. H.R. 2066 will not change, in any way, the 
requirement that school meals meet the dietary guidelines for 
Americans. It will, however, permit schools to use any reasonable 
approach to meet the dietary guidelines, including those contained in 
the regulations issued by the Department. Adding additional fruits, 
vegetables, and grains is certainly one way to ensure the dietary 
guidelines are met. However, schools could choose to bake instead of 
fry certain food items or use low-fat alternatives to some food items. 
There are not just one or two ways to meet the dietary guidelines.
  Nothing in this act affects the ability of States to determine if 
schools have met the dietary guidelines. Compliance reviews will 
continue to take place. There will still be State and Federal audits 
and corrective action will still be required for schools not meeting 
the dietary guidelines.
  According to the American School Food Service Association, ``We 
support giving schools the maximum flexibility in planning their menus 
so that they can best meet local taste preferences and maintain maximum 
control over program costs while improving the nutritional quality of 
their meals.''

[[Page H4911]]

  We need to allow schools the flexibility to serve meals students will 
eat. Only 50 percent of low-income students Participate in the School 
Lunch Program and 46 percent of middle and upper income children 
participate. As long as schools are serving healthy, nutritious meals, 
it shouldn't matter how individual schools meet the dietary guidelines.
  The bottom line is that schools know best what children will eat. We 
need to free their hands to do the job that they know how to do best.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2066.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume, and I rise in support of H.R. 2066 and want to commend the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania for moving this important bill through 
committee and to the floor.
  This bill is good for the School Lunch Program and for the children 
it serves.
  H.R. 2066 confirms that reason will be applied in the implementation 
of the requirement we enacted in the School Lunch Act last Congress 
that school breakfasts and lunches meet the dietary guidelines for 
Americans. We must enable schools to meet this requirement both with 
efficiency and in as cost effect manner as possible and this 
legislation will see that this happens. I firmly believe that such 
flexibility also will result in more children actually eating the 
nutritious meals that schools provide.
  This legislation in no way retreats from our commitment to ensuring 
that school meals meet the dietary guidelines for Americans, nor does 
it compromise the timelines established for schools to provide balanced 
nutritious meals beginning this fall under these guidelines.
  I am grateful to the American School Food Service Association for its 
assistance and support on this measure. I think the comfort level of 
the school food service community is important, since they are the ones 
throughout this Nation who are committed to seeing that the guidelines 
are reached in school menus. But I also think it is important to 
recognize the other major education groups that are behind this 
effort--the National School Board Association, the American Association 
of School Administrators, and the Association of School Business 
Officials--all sharing the common goal of having well-fed children 
ready to learn.
  I am most pleased that the administration supports the enactment of 
this bill, and worked with us in crafting substitute language to ensure 
that a reasonable accountability mechanism is in place for schools.
   Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania if 
he would mind engaging in a colloquy at this point.
  The amendment to the committee-reported bill is a welcome addition to 
this legislation. It would have the Secretary of Agriculture establish 
general guidelines for school food authorities to turn to for help when 
crafting the approach they will use to meet the dietary guidelines.
  I would ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania, am I correct that it is 
the intent of this amendment that the Secretary exercise this authority 
sparingly, so that schools will have maximum control over how they meet 
the dietary guidelines and not be limited only to federally prescribed 
approaches.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. GOODLING. Yes, the gentleman is correct. School food authorities 
must have maximum flexibility to plan menus that adhere to the dietary 
guidelines, meet children's preferences, and take account of food, 
planning, and preparation costs. While the amended language recognizes 
some Federal oversight is advisable, the guidelines to be issued by the 
Secretary must ensure that school food authorities may choose among the 
widest possible range of reasonable approaches consistent with their 
responsibility to serve meals that comply with the dietary guidelines. 
The Secretary's guidelines are to help schools in designing their meal 
programs, not micromanage them. They should set outer bounds and 
clearly impermissible practices, not prescribe a list of approved 
approaches or simply add some options to the three choices already in 
regulations. The committee continues to believe that the primary method 
of assuring accountability is, as already incorporated in regulations, 
periodic review of schools' meals to see whether they live up to the 
dietary guidelines and follow-up corrective actions if necessary. The 
Secretary's guidelines should not be used to unnecessarily prejudge 
schools' menu planning approaches, especially when many schools are 
already meeting the dietary guidelines using their food-based menu 
systems.
  Mr. MILLER of California. If I might ask the gentleman one other 
question, and that is, would the Secretary's guidelines limit schools 
that already use or want to use a food-based menu system to the options 
in current regulations and the 1994-95 school year meal pattern as 
added by the bill?
  Mr. GOODLING. No, they would not. It should be clearly understood 
that the Secretary's guidelines are to recognize school food 
authorities' right to develop their own approach to complying with the 
dietary guidelines using their best judgment. This could mean using 
their current meal patterns, already designed alternatives, the options 
in current regulations, the 1994-95 meal pattern, or any other 
reasonable approach within the general bounds set by the Secretary. 
They could, for example, make adjustments to the food-based system in 
current regulations to better recognize children's preferences or 
control costs, or take suggestions from the Department's options to 
revise their own system. The bottom line is that the basic 
responsibility for developing reasonable approaches to meeting the 
dietary guidelines is with the school food authorities, with Federal 
guidance and oversight but not a panoply prescriptive rules or preset 
options.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very 
much for those clarifications.
  I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro].
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for the Healthy 
Meals for Children Act and urge its immediate adoption. I applaud my 
colleagues, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Chairman Bill Goodling, 
and the gentleman from California, Congressman George Miller, for their 
commitment to the healthy development of kids in this country, and 
their ability to work together in a bipartisan fashion to bring this 
important bill to the floor.
  The Healthy Meals for Children Act provides schools with more 
flexibility in how they meet the dietary guidelines for school meals 
was required by the National School Lunch Act. This bill in no way, it 
in no way changes the dietary guidelines or erodes the nutritional 
content of school breakfasts or lunches. This measure allows school 
administrators and food service staff to make nutritious affordable 
meals that our kids will eat.
  The school lunch program provides man of our children with the one 
balanced meal that they eat all day. In my home State of Connecticut 
this legislation will ensure more nutritious meals or over half a 
million children. In the largest city in my district, New Haven, CT, 
over half of the children in public schools qualify for either free 
meals or reduced priced meals through the school lunch program.
  Hungry or malnourished children cannot perform at their highest 
capability in the classroom or in their lives. By giving schools more 
flexibility to meet the national dietary guidelines, we are improving 
the health, the life and the performance of children in and out of our 
classrooms.
  Last year the congressional majority made school lunches for our 
Nation's kids the first item on the chopping block; and, fortunately, 
the American people fought back and the school lunch program was saved. 
I am pleased that the bipartisanship of my colleagues has produced this 
sensible progressive legislation which I support. My hope is that we 
can achieve this kind of bipartisan legislation and sensible 
legislation in the areas of Medicare and Medicaid and education and our 
environment.
  The Healthy Meals for Children Act is supported by the 
administration, the

[[Page H4912]]

American Association of School Administrators, an the National School 
Board Association, among others, Passing this legislation provides food 
and service workers with flexibility to design meals that children will 
eat and that meet the dietary guidelines at the same time.
  I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this legislation and 
urge the immediate adoption of the Healthy Meals for Children Act.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Gunderson] who realizes that computers 
will never give us the nutritional value that milk does.
  (Mr. GUNDERSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. GUNDERSON. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying I am delighted to 
be on the floor dealing with a school nutrition issue other than milk. 
The fact is, however, Mr. Chairman, that I rise in strong support of 
this bill but I think it is important as I do so that we understand 
part of the problem that we faced over the last couple of years.
  This is not the first time we have had to deal with all of this. A 
couple of years ago this whole attempt to regulate through 
administrative regulations the nutrient standards, et cetera, created 
such an uproar that we had to take legislative action at that time to 
make clear that that did not happen.
  Many of my colleagues will recall about a year ago, when we were 
asking the question about whether or not we ought to literally block 
grant our school nutrition programs, give the money and give the 
authority back to the schools and let them design a program based on 
the proper meal plan, and, obviously, the nutrition standards that we 
all sought, that there was all kind of concern that if we let that 
happen there would be all kinds of problems.
  Well, I think what we are doing today is we are witnessing the 
problems on the other side once again. Anybody who believes that a one-
size-fits-all Washington mentality is going to be able to deal with 
this issue, does not understand the real life of school nutrition. We 
looked at this issue in many of our schools in western Wisconsin the 
last time it was around and we literally discovered that the cost of 
computers and training was more than what many of these schools spent 
on salaries for the school dietitians that provided the meals for the 
children, and we recognized how absurd that was; that we were going to 
lose everything in the process.
  And, frankly, schools were seriously asking me the question.

                              {time}  1430

  I remember one school administrator, she called me up and she said: 
We are trying to decide. We are going to build a new school. We are 
trying to decide whether we should even build a hot lunchroom, because 
the regulations from Washington are getting so complex and so costly, 
there is simply no way in our small school system we can meet them.
  Well, we were able to put that off once, and now we are back here 
today to put that off a second time and say let us not jeopardize the 
nutrition goals for our school children because of our love in 
Washington for regulations and mandates.
  So I support the legislation. I commend the chairman for bringing it 
forth.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2066, the Healthy 
Meals for Children Act.
  Last June, after the publication of the final regulations for the 
Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act, I was contacted by school food 
service providers from my congressional district. One particular 
individual, Richard Deburgh, director of food services for the Glendale 
Unified School District, expressed his concern about the regulations in 
a letter urging that we ``support the dietary guidelines but oppose 
dietary commandments.''
  This sentiment was echoed by others who contacted me to express their 
concern that the regulations would affect their ability to prepare 
meals which were not only healthy and met the dietary guidelines, but 
which children would eat.
  As we all know, the same foods do not appeal to all children in all 
areas of the country. It is important to allow local school food 
service providers the freedom to provide students with meals they will 
eat.
  Mr. Speaker, those individuals who work with children each day in 
local schools know best what they will eat. They live in the local 
community, talk to the children each day as they pass through the 
cafeteria line, and have a vested interest in the health of these 
children. We need to provide them with the flexibility to design and 
serve healthy meals which children will eat.
  H.R. 2066 provides schools with this flexibility and at the same 
time, maintains the requirement that such meals meet the dietary 
guidelines for Americans.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 2066, the 
Healthy Meals for Children Act. This legislation would offer school 
food service providers greater flexibility in meeting the national 
dietary guidelines in school lunch and breakfast programs.
  We are moving this bipartisan legislation because the USDA Food and 
Consumer Service under the direction of Ellen Haas is out of control. 
In the name of advancing good nutrition for children, the USDA is 
burying our schools in bureaucratic paperwork and regulatory 
micromanagement. The USDA mandates not just that schools meet the 
national dietary guidelines, but that they demonstrate their compliance 
in two or three different ways, as required by prescriptive and 
needless regulation.
  Here is what school food service directors are saying about the 
USDA's June, 1995, regulation on School Meal Initiatives for Healthy 
Americans, and about our bill:
  Richard DeBurgh, Glendale, CA: ``I believe that this bill is 
essential to stop the ever-increasing bureaucracy associated with 
school lunch.''
  Helen Kerrian, National City, CA: ``The final regulations published 
by the Department of Agriculture are very prescriptive. They mandate 
additional costs * * * even in districts which are meeting the dietary 
guidelines today.''
  Sharon Briel, Glendora, CA: ``I believe this bill is necessary 
because USDA has been unresponsive to the concerns of the school food 
service industry.''
  This kind of big government run amok will 10 to 17 cents of the cost 
of every school lunch, according to the National School Food Service 
Association--and for nothing. It's time for government and bureaucrats 
to take less, and for America's needy children to get more.
  I am proud that this Congress has been uncompromising in its support 
for excellent school lunch and breakfast programs in our schools. As 
part of this historic Congress, Chairman Goodling and I have approached 
this issue from two solid principles that all of us can agree upon. 
First, hungry children cannot learn. And second, because needless 
bureaucratic paperwork literally steals from families, from taxpayers, 
and from the mouths of hungry children, we need to act to cut the red 
tape.
  H.R. 2066 does just that. Schools will still offer nutritious meals 
that meet the dietary guidelines. They just won't have to tell USDA 
about it in triplicate, when simpler compliance will do.
  I understand that H.R. 2066 has the support of the American School 
Food Service Association, and from Congressman George Miller. I have 
enclosed letters of support from a number of school food service 
directors in my State. It was adopted by voice vote in the 
Opportunities Committee May 1. And I am proud to be a cosponsor of the 
chairman's excellent bill, and I urge its adoption without amendments. 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 2066, the Healthy Meals for Children Act to allow schools greater 
flexibility in meeting dietary guidelines under the school lunch and 
school breakfast programs. A proper nutritional diet is essential to a 
child's mental and physical development. Schools need to provide 
nutritious and wholesome food to nourish growing children at the same 
time that schools work to nourish the students' minds and spirits with 
education.

  I believe that our local schools should be given the flexibility to 
offer food that the students will actually like to eat. I support this 
Healthy Meals for Children Act because it will give schools the 
discretion to meet the goal of offering nutritious and wholesome food 
to our children.
  Furthermore, I am concerned about the cost of wasting food in our 
schools. Food is essential nourishment for everyone, and I support 
policies that would allow the Houston Independent School District 
[HISD] to design a nutritional program. In the HISD school system,

[[Page H4913]]

schools can provide students with nutritious meals while giving 
students food that they like to eat, and then designing a program to 
allow the Houston schools to donate the extra food to feed the 
homeless. I encourage the formation of such a program by HISD and I 
encourage other districts to adopt this innovative and beneficial 
program. Hunger in America warrants continued efforts to stomp out 
hunger.
  In closing, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of the 
Healthy Meals for Children Act.
  Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in the 53 years since the 
Federal Government began supporting lunch programs in schools, 25 laws 
have been passed by Congress making changes in the form and goals of 
Federal school lunch assistance. The history of school lunches is an 
interesting one, with its beginnings in World War II and depression-era 
programs to help the farmer. The war years also saw Federal support for 
lunch programs justified by the growing numbers of women in the work 
force.
  When I first came to the House of Representatives, 23 years ago, 
public schools provided a basic lunch to students. In the 1970's 
Congress began to focus on the operational needs of school lunch 
programs. Congress enacted a series of laws that established guaranteed 
cash and commodity reimbursements for each school lunch served and 
inflation adjustments in these reimbursements. This so-called 
performance funding feature was designed to encourage program expansion 
by assuring schools an amount of Federal funding they would receive. 
Later, Congress established uniform meal reimbursements for all lunches 
served and varied the financial support for different types of lunches 
according to their nutritional content.

  Over time, educators showed us that students learned better, behaved 
better, and were more attentive when they weren't hungry. Social 
services providers have shown us that the lunch children received in 
school was the most nutritious meal of the day for many children. 
Breakfasts are now offered in many communities before the school day 
begins.
  In fiscal year 1995, a national total of over 4.2 billion lunches 
were served under the School Lunch Program. Of these, 1.8 billion were 
served free, and 300 million lunches were served at a reduced price of 
no more than 40 cents each. In Illinois alone, a total of 156 million 
lunches were served--62 million free and 9 million at a reduced rate.
  Over the years Congress continued to support school lunches by 
providing commodities to supplement the local education agency's lunch 
menu. Also over the years, the ideas of dietary requirements have 
changed. The Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994, Public 
Law 103-448, addressed concerns raised by the 1993 school nutrition 
dietary assessment study concerning levels of fat, sodium, and 
carbohydrates in meals served under the School Lunch Program.
  A 1994 law, Public Law 103-448, established a new set of nutritional 
requirements for school lunch programs, largely to reduce the amount of 
fat content in the lunches served to our schoolchildren every 
schoolday. This bill under consideration today, H.R. 2066, the Healthy 
Meals for Children Act, will provide increased flexibility for schools 
to meet the standards required for reimbursement. This bill was 
designed to clear up confusion about what nutritional standards may be 
used in order to comply with Federal guidelines, and will make it 
easier for schools to meet new dietary guidelines for school lunch 
programs.
  American schoolchildren are fortunate to have national standards that 
are available to be used to assure the families and children that the 
food they are provided in school will be safe, healthful, and 
nutritionally beneficial to their growing minds and bodies. I urge my 
colleagues to support this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2066, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________