[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13260-S13261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRAHAM:
  S. 1800. A bill to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to improve onsite 
inspections of State food stamp programs, to provide grants to develop 
community partnerships and innovative outreach strategies for food 
stamp and related programs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


  the food stamp outreach and research for kids act of 1999 (the fork 
                                  act)

 Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to introduce 
The Food Stamp Outreach and Research for Kids Act of 1999.
  Along with my House colleagues Representatives William Coyne and 
Sander Levin, I created this common sense piece of legislation with the 
goal of guarding children and their families against hunger.
  In 1998, over 14 million children lived in households that could not 
afford to buy food.
  That was an increase of almost 4 million children from 1997.
  At the same time, the number of poor children not getting Food Stamps 
reached its highest level in a decade.
  My bill, the Food Stamp Outreach for Kids Act of 1999 (the FORK Act), 
would help us to give children who are currently going hungry the Food 
Stamps that they need.
  Some time ago, food banks in Florida started telling me that the 
number of people coming to them for assistance was increasing, and that 
if demand continued at the current rate, they might run out of food.
  This crisis was not specific to Florida, Congressman Coyne and 
Congressman Levin were hearing the same concerns from food banks in 
Pennsylvania and Michigan.
  When we asked them whom the new people coming to the food banks were, 
we were told that they were mostly low-income working families.
  When the food banks screened these families using eligibility 
guidelines, it looked as if the majority of the new people coming to 
the food banks for assistance should have been receiving food stamps 
but were not.
  The General Accounting Office (GAO) researched this issue, and in 
their July, 1999 report found that while a number of people who have 
left the Food Stamp program because of the improved economy, economic 
growth alone does not explain the drop in Food Stamp participation.
  The GAO found that demand for emergency and supplemental food was 
increasing and that some state agencies were not correctly following 
federal laws regarding Food Stamp benefits.
  Perhaps most disturbing of all, the GAO found that almost half of the 
people who have lost Food Stamps since 1996 are children.
  The FORK Act is designed to address GAO's findings and 
recommendations to make certain that children and families in this 
country are not going hungry.
  The FORK Act would provide grant funding to food banks, schools, 
health clinics, local governments and other entities that interact with 
working families. The grants would allow those organizations to develop 
and expand innovative approaches to Food Stamp outreach, which would 
help the Food and Nutrition Service enroll many of the eligible 
families that currently go hungry.
  The FORK Act would require the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to 
conduct onsite inspections of state Food Stamp programs to identify 
barriers to enrollment and work with states to develop corrective 
action plans.
  The FORK Act would authorize FNS to conduct research, which will help 
it to improve access, formulate nutrition policy and measure program 
impacts and integrity.
  The FORK Act would require the Departments of Agriculture and Health 
and Human Services to work with state Temporary Assistance for Children 
and Families (TANF) programs to train caseworkers and make sure that 
prospective and former TANF recipients are property informed about Food 
Stamp eligibility.
  Finally the FORK Act would authorize private-public partnerships to 
expand nutrition education programs.
  Mr. President, I do not believe that there is a member in this 
Congress who ever intended for children to go hungry because their 
parents left welfare to go to work.
  Now that we know it is happening, we must act quickly to make certain 
that the Food Stamp program works for children and families in need.
  I hope that my Senate colleagues will join me in supporting this 
important legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask that a list of groups supporting the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  The material follows:

 Organizations Supporting the Food Stamp Outreach and Research Act for 
                        Kids 1999 (The FORK Act)


                         national organizations

       ACORN
       AFSCME
       America's Second Harvest
       American Federation of Teachers
       American Friends Service Committee
       Americans for Democratic Action
       Brain Injury Association
       Bread For The World
       Catholic Charities USA
       Center for Community Change
       Children's Defense Fund
       Coalition on Human Needs
       Community Nutrition Institute
       Food Research and Action Center
       Foodchain
       Friends Committee on National Legislation
       Jewish Council for Public Affairs

[[Page S13261]]

       Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, ELCA
       Lutheran Services in America
       MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
       McAuley Institute
       Mennonite Center Committee U.S. Washington Office
       Migrant Legal Action Program
       National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
       National Association of Child Advocates
       National Association of Social Workers
       National Center on Poverty Law
       National Commodity Supplemental Food Program Association
       National Council of Churches
       National Council of La Raza
       National Immigration Law Center
       National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
       National Urban League
       National Women's Law Center
       NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
       Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
       RESULTS
       The General Board of Church and Society of the United 
     Methodist Church
       Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees 
     (UNITE)
       Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
       United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement 
     Workers of America
       United Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society
       United Food and Commercial Workers
       United States Conference of Mayors
       Welfare Law Center
       Wider Opportunities for Women
       World Hunger Year


                                alabama

       Alabama Coalition Against Hunger


                                arizona

       Chidren's Action Alliance
       Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Arizona
       World Hunger Ecumenical Arizona Task-Force (WHEAT)


                                arkansas

       Arkansas Hunger Coalition


                               california

       Alameda County Community Food Bank
       California Food Policy Advocates
       California Statewide Lao Hmong Coalition
       Chico Hmong Advisory Council
       Desert Cities Hunger Action
       Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy
       Food Share, Inc./Ventura County Food Bank
       Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness
       Lutheran Office of Public Policy--California
       Southland Farmers' Market Association
       The San Diego Hunger Coalition


                                colorado

       Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry--Colorado
       Weld Food Bank


                              connecticut

       CY Anti-Hunger Coalition/CT Association for Human Services
       End Hunger Connecticut!
       Foodshare of Greater Hartford


                                delaware

       Food Bank of Delaware


                          district of columbia

       Capital Area Community Food Bank


                                florida

       Daily Bread Food Bank
       Florida Association for Community Action
       Florida Atlantic University Department of Social Work
       Florida Impact
       Harry Chapin Food Bank


                                georgia

       Atlanta Community Food Bank
       Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger


                                 hawaii

       Task Force on Children's Nutrition Rights (of World 
     Alliance on Nutrition and Human Rights)


                                 idaho

       Idaho Community Action Network
       The Idaho Food Bank


                                illinois

       Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation
       Illinois Hunger Coalition


                                indiana

       Indiana Food & Nutrition Network
       Lafayette Urban Ministries


                                  iowa

       Food Bank of Iowa


                                 kansas

       Campaign to End Childhood Hunger (Wichita, KS)


                                kentucky

       Kentucky Task Force on Hunger


                               louisiana

       Bread for the World--New Orleans


                                 maine

       Hospitality House Inc.
       Maine Coalition for Food Security


                                maryland

       Community Assistance Network


                             massachusetts

       Boston Medical Center Department of Pediatrics
       Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
       Massachusetts Law Reform
       National Priorities Project
       Project Bread
       Survivors, Inc.


                                michigan

       Capitol Area Community Services
       Center for Civil Justice
       Hunger Action Coalition of Michigan


                               minnesota

       Adults & Childrens Alliance
       Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota
       Minnesota FoodShare
       Second Harvest St. Paul Food Bank


                              mississippi

       Mississippi Human Services Coalition


                                missouri

       Harvesters--The Community Food Network
       Missouri Association for Social Welfare
       Reform Organization of Welfare (ROWEL)


                                montana

       Montana Hunger Coalition


                                nebraska

       Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest


                                 nevada

       Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada


                             new hampshire

       New Hampshire Food Bank


                               new jersey

       Community Food Bank of New Jersey
       Food Bank of South Jersey
       Statewide Emergency Food and Anti-Hunger Network (SEFAN)


                               new mexico

       New Mexico Advocates for Children and Families


                                new york

       Community Food Resource Center
       Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Inc.
       Food Bank of Western New York
       Health and Welfare Council of Long Island
       Make the Road by Walking
       NYC Coalition Against Hunger
       New York Immigration Coalition
       Task Force on Welfare Reform, NYC Chapter of National 
     Association of Social Workers
       The Nutrition Consortium of NYS
       The Westchester Progressive Forum


                             north carolina

       Food Bank of North Carolina
       Manna Food Bank, Inc.
       North Carolina Hunger Network


                                  ohio

       Ohio Hunger Task Force


                                oklahoma

       Tulsa Community Food Bank


                                 oregon

       Oregon Center for Public Policy
       Oregon Food Bank
       Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force


                              pennsylvania

       Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
       Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
       Just Harvest
       PA Hunger Action Center
       Women's Association for Women's Alternatives


                              rhode island

       George Wiley Center and Campaign to Eliminate Childhood 
     Poverty


                             south carolina

       SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center


                              south dakota

       Children's Agenda for South Dakota


                               tennessee

       MANNA
       Tennessee Hunger Coalition


                                 texas

       Center for Public Policy Priorities
       Greater Dallas Community of Churches
       North Texas Food Bank
       Texas Alliance for Human Needs


                                  utah

       Crossroads Urban Center
       Coalition of Religious Communities
       Utahns Against Hunger


                                vermont

       Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger


                                virginia

       Grassroots Innovative Policy Program
       Virginia Poverty Law Center


                               washington

       Children's Alliance Food Policy Center
       Washington State Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition
       Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition


                             west virginia

       West Virginia Coalition on Food and Nutrition


                               wisconsin

       Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee
       Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Wisconsin
       Women and Poverty Public Education Initiative.
                                 ______