[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. JOHNSON:
  S. 1396. A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to expand 
the School Breakfast Program in elementary schools; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


                     the meals for achievement act

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Meals 
for Achievement Act. This bill, if enacted, is intended to expand the 
school breakfast program in elementary schools.
  In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President 
Clinton called education ``my number one priority for the next four 
years.'' Congress has echoed this sentiment with a variety of bills 
intended to improve the readiness of children to take their place in 
America's work force in order to secure our place in a strong economy. 
For the United States to compete effectively in the world we must have 
an educated and productive work force. In order to have an educated and 
productive work force, we must prepare our children to learn. In order 
to prepare our children to learn they must be well nourished, and that 
begins with a good breakfast.
  The best teachers in the world, with the best standards, cannot teach 
a hungry child. A child who begins his or her school day with their 
stomach growling because they either did not have time to eat breakfast 
or there was no breakfast to be served, is simply too distracted to 
focus on the lessons being provided by the teacher.
  In 1994, the Minnesota Legislature directed the Minnesota Department 
of Children, Families and Learning to implement a universal breakfast 
pilot program integrating breakfast into the education schedule for all 
students. The evaluation of the pilot project, performed by the Center 
for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of 
Minnesota, shows that when all students are involved in school 
breakfast there is a general increase in learning and achievement.
  Researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital recently 
completed a study on the results of universal free breakfast at one 
public school in Philadelphia and two in Baltimore. The study, to be 
published in the Journal of Pediatrics in the near future, found that 
students who ate the breakfast showed great improvement in math grades, 
attendance, and punctuality. The researchers also observed that 
students displayed fewer signs of depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, 
and other behavioral problems.
  As reported by the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project 
[CCHIP], hungry children are more likely to be ill and absent from 
school and are less likely to interact with other people or explore or 
learn from their surroundings. This interferes with their ability to 
learn from a very early age. School-aged children who are hungry cannot 
concentrate or do as well as others on the tasks they need to perform 
to learn the basics. Research indicates that low-income children who 
participate in the School Breakfast Program show an improvement in 
standardized test scores and a decrease in tardiness and absenteeism 
compared to low-income students who do not eat breakfast at school.
  According to the Tufts University Center on Hunger, Poverty, and 
Nutrition Policy, evidence from recent research about child nutrition 
shows that, in addition to having a detrimental effect on the cognitive 
development of children, undernutrition results in lost knowledge, 
brainpower, and productivity for the Nation.
  If we are serious about improving productivity in America through our 
education system, we must first prepare our children to learn. The time 
has come, therefore, to build upon the pilot program in Minnesota, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities, and integrate school 
breakfast into the education day, at least at the elementary school 
level.
  Mr. President, the legislation I am introducing today would not 
mandate the school breakfast program. A local school could still decide 
whether or not to participate, and each parent can decide for 
themselves whether or not to have their child participate.
  I do appreciate that there is a cost involved with this initiative 
and, therefore, we may have to phase it in over a few years. However, 
the time has come to set the course for our future direction in the 
School Breakfast Program and take our first step forward.
  The Meals for Achievement Act raises an important policy question. 
The question is: What is the basic purpose and goal of the School 
Breakfast Program? Is the School Breakfast Program a welfare program? 
Or, Is the School Breakfast Program a nutrition and education program 
intended to prepare children for a successful educational experience? 
If the School Breakfast Program is a welfare program then my 
legislation would not make sense. I do not believe that we should be 
providing welfare to individuals who do not need assistance. If, on the 
other hand, the School Breakfast Program is a part of the education 
day, and is intended to prepare children to learn, then, in my opinion, 
it should include all children. School books are provided to all 
children without regard to their income; school buses are used by 
children without regard to their income; and that is how we should view 
the School Breakfast Program.
  I commend this legislation to my colleagues and to the 
administration. As many of you know the child nutrition programs must 
be reauthorized in 1998 and the Administration is currently drafting 
its proposal to send to Congress after the first of the year. I would 
hope Secretary Glickman and my friends at the Department of 
Agriculture, as well as those at the Office of Management and Budget, 
consider making the Meals for Achievement Act a part of their 
legislative initiative.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1396

       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 ``Meals for Achievement Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM.

       Section 4(b)(1)(B) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
     U.S.C. 1773(b)(1)(B)) is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``for each free 
     breakfast'' and inserting ``for each breakfast served in an 
     elementary school and each free breakfast served in a school 
     other than an elementary school'';
       (2) in the second sentence, by inserting ``served in a 
     school other than an elementary school'' after ``reduced 
     price breakfast''; and
       (3) in the third sentence, by inserting ``in a school other 
     than an elementary school'' after ``served''.

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