[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 64 (Thursday, May 15, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GEKAS AMENDMENT THREATENS WIC FUNDING

  (Mr. HINCHEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, last week I and others took the floor of 
this House to deplore the majority party's suggestion that 180,000 
American women and children should be cut from the women, infants and 
children program. This program, WIC as it is known, is an 
extraordinarily effective program. It prevents low birth weight babies, 
it prevents anemic babies, it provides proper nutrition for women who 
are lactating to ensure that their babies grow to be strong and 
healthy. We were able to defeat that proposal last week, but now we 
have another proposal before us. An amendment to the supplemental 
budget that is up today would cut 500,000 women and infants from the 
women, infants, and children program. We need to marshal our forces 
once again. The Gekas amendment needs to be defeated. It should be 
defeated because it is shortsighted and mean-spirited. It would have 
the opposite effect of those who want to invest in the future of our 
country by investing in American families. Let us defeat that amendment 
and make sure that the women, infants, and children program continues 
to be an effective way to strengthen women, strengthen their children, 
and strengthen American families.

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