[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 59 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2353-H2354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CHOOSE FOR CHILDREN

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I appeal this morning to my Republican 
colleagues to choose for children. I urge them to restore the $38 
million their leaders cut from the President's supplemental 
appropriation request for the Women, Infants and Children Program and, 
as we move forward in the budget process, to support full funding for 
WIC.
  WIC pays for milk, cereal, and formula, basics that we know reduce 
low birth weight, infant mortality, and child anemia. The GAO says that 
every dollar invested in WIC's prenatal program saves $3.50 in Medicaid 
spending. That is why AT&T's CEO Robert Allen calls WIC ``the health 
care equivalent of a Triple-A investment.''

[[Page H2354]]

  Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the budget, our job is to make choices. 
Republican leaders have chosen to cut 180,000 mothers and children from 
the WIC Program. I urge the Republican rank-and-file to join the 
Democrats. Choose for children, invest in the mothers and their 
children who benefit from the WIC Program. It is the right choice for 
children. It is the right choice for families. It is the right choice 
for America.

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