[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 78 (Thursday, May 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S6369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY:
  S. 1181. A bill to appropriate funds to carry out the commodity 
supplemental food program and the emergency food assistance program 
fiscal year 2000 to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.


                  commodity supplemental food program

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am proud to introduce a bill to increase 
funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for Fiscal Year 
2000. I look forward to working with Appropriate Committee members on 
this and other important matters through the appropriations process.
  The Commodity Supplemental Food Program does exactly what its name 
suggests--it provides supplemental foods to states who distribute them 
to low-income postpartum, pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, 
children up to age six, as well as senior citizens.
  People participating in CSFP receive healthy packages of food 
including items such as infant formula juice, rice, pasta, and canned 
fruits and vegetables.
  The Commodity Supplemental Food Program currently operates in twenty 
states and last year, more than 370,000 people participated in it every 
month. There still remains a great need to expand this program, as 
there is a waiting list of states--including my state of Vermont--who 
want to participate, but are not able to because of lack of funding. 
The bill I am introducing would fix this problem, by increasing the 
funding so that more women, children and seniors in need could 
participate. I look forward to working with the Vermont Congressional 
delegation on this matter.
  The Commodity Supplemental Food Program has proven itself to be 
vitally important to senior citizens, as 243,000 of the 370,000 people 
who participate every month are seniors. There continues to be a great 
need for our seniors in Vermont, and in the rest of the nation.
  This has been true for sometime, and still is the case. I 
successfully fought efforts a few years ago to terminate the Meals on 
Wheels Program. Ending that program would have been a disaster for our 
seniors.
  According to an evaluation of the Elderly Nutrition Program of the 
Older Americans Act, approximately 67% to 88% of the participants are 
at moderate to high nutritional risk. It is further estimated that 40% 
of older adults have inappropriate intakes of three or more nutrients 
in their diets. And the results of nutritional programs on the health 
of seniors are amazing--for instance, it was estimated in a report that 
for every $1 spent on Senior Nutrition Programs, more than $3 is saved 
in hospital costs.
  This Congress, I have taken a number of steps to address the 
nutritional problems facing our seniors, and have met with some 
success. In response to a budget request that I submitted last year, 
the Administration increased their funding request for the Elderly 
Nutrition Program by $10 million to $150 million for Fiscal year 2000. 
I will continue to work to see that the full $150 million is included 
in the final budget.
  This past April I also cosponsored the Medicare Medical Nutrition 
Therapy Act, which provides for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition 
therapy services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals. 
Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy would save money by 
reducing hospital admissions, shortening hospital stays, and decreasing 
complications.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this measure 
into law through the normal appropriations process for fiscal year 
2000.
                                 ______