[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 64 (Thursday, May 15, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DEMOCRATS RELIEVED AT RESTORATION OF WIC FUNDING

  (Ms. DELAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that imitation is the 
sincerest form of flattery. Today House Democrats should be extremely 
flattered by the Republican action on today's supplemental 
appropriations bill.
  A few weeks ago the Republican majority on the Committee on 
Appropriations voted down a Democratic amendment to provide $76 million 
needed for the Women, Infants and Children Program. And in the weeks 
since, Democrats have been speaking out to the press, on the floor, and 
back home in their districts about the need to restore the funding for 
this program.
  We have explained that WIC is a program that works; that WIC saves 
the Federal Government money; that WIC provides assistance to those in 
our society that need it, pregnant women and young children; and that 
WIC reflects the best values of this country of ours.
  I am happy today that Republicans have finally come around to our way 
of thinking, for they have now voted to include the very funding their 
colleagues voted down only a few short weeks ago, and I am glad to see 
that they have decided to follow our lead.
  Now, 180,000 women and children will sleep better tonight knowing 
that they will continue to receive the vital assistance that the WIC 
Program provides.

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