[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E840-E841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTHY MEALS FOR CHILDREN ACT

                                 ______


                               speech of

                            HON. PAT ROBERTS

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 1996

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 
2066, the Healthy Meals for Children Act of 1996. I know the Chairman 
of the Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee, Mr. Goodling, 
has sought a remedy for the problems caused by

[[Page E841]]

the implementation of the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 
1994 and this bill represents that corrective action.
  When Congress passed and the President signed the 1994 amendments, we 
all believed that schools would be allowed to use a food-based system 
to meet the dietary guidelines for the school meals programs. 
Unfortunately, the regulations implementing the 1994 amendments did not 
provide this flexibility to schools.
  Local school employees involved in the planning and preparation of 
school meals work very hard to make sure that the meals are nutritious 
and good tasting. A meal not eaten provides no benefit to anyone. Their 
challenge is to balance good nutrition with what children will eat.
  The bill under consideration today provides for the flexibility and I 
am pleased to support it.
  When these regulations were proposed in 1994, a hearing was held in 
the Committee on Agriculture. Members of the committee made it clear 
that the proposed rules would tie the hands of local schools and impose 
financial hardships on these schools, especially those in rural areas. 
Despite the concerns expressed, the Department of Agriculture went 
ahead and finalized the rules. Since that time local schools have 
continued to express their concerns.
  Therefore it was necessary to bring a second bill to the House to 
ensure that local schools are provided with the flexibility that will 
allow them to prepare nutritious meals that meet the dietary 
guidelines.
  There is a practical case to be made that local schools 
administrators should be able to decide how best to meet the needs of 
children participating in the School Lunch Program. No Federal 
regulation can guarantee that a nutritious school lunch will be 
consumed by children in school. No school lunch, no matter how 
nutritious, improves the diets of children if that lunch is not eaten. 
This bill represents a commonsense approach to health and nutritious 
meals in our schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I am informed that the administration fully supports 
this bill and I urge all Members to support H.R. 2066.