[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 14, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H4343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH PROGRAMS

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, part of providing our children with 
quality education is making sure they are healthy and well fed. School 
breakfast and lunch programs which provide free or discounted meals to 
low-income children are an integral part of a child's school day.
  The program relies on families to truthfully reveal their incomes 
when applying for subsidized meals and schools and administrators to 
implement the programs honestly and efficiently. And when parents or 
schools fail to do this, it is the children who suffer.
  Take the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which overcharged 
the Federal Government an estimated $23 million for its school lunch 
program. The Commonwealth failed to pay $11.5 million of its share of 
program expenses, which were instead billed to Washington. It also 
served free meals to all of the schoolchildren, including those from 
upper and middle class and wealthy families.
  Now, that $23 million could have fed thousands of indigent 
schoolchildren. What a senseless waste, Mr. Speaker.

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