[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LUGAR (for himself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 2660. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to increase the number of children participating in the summer food 
service program; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act that will 
streamline, nationwide, management of the Summer Food Service Program. 
The proposed administrative changes are expected to increase the number 
of local organizations stepping forward to sponsor a summer feeding 
program in their communities and, thus, serve many more children in 
poor neighborhoods.
  Children in low-income communities are eligible to receive free or 
reduced price meals during the school year through the National School 
Lunch and Breakfast Programs. During the 2000-2001 school year, 15.3 
million children received such assistance. But, unless children attend 
school during the summer, access to meals through these programs ends.
  The Summer Food Service Program, which is administered at the federal 
level by USDA, helps to fill the resulting hunger gap and helps 
children get the nutrition they need to learn, play and grow throughout 
the summer months. This is an entitlement program which funds the meal 
and snack service provided by the sponsors of diverse, summer activity 
programs.
  Although the Summer Food Service Program is the largest Federal 
resource used to feed children during the summer months, we know that 
there is substantial unmet need. Among the more than 15 million 
children getting free and reduced-price meals during the school year, 
only about 20 percent of these three million children received free 
meals during the summer months.
  State administering agencies report that a major obstacle to serving 
more low-income children is the relatively small and static number of 
local organizations serving as program sponsors or meal providers. 
During the last several years, the total number of Summer Food Service 
Program sponsors across the country ranged between 28,000 and a little 
over 31,000.
  Two important factors contribute to this situation. Many schools and 
summer recreation programs remain unaware that federal funding is 
available to provide free meals and snacks to needy children. Others 
find the requirements for budget and cost reporting, which are 
different from those used in the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, 
to be unusually complex and burdensome.
  The administrative obstacles are both familiar to the Congress and 
one we have taken an initial step to address. In early fiscal year 
2001, I authored a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 
that authorizes a pilot to try out simpler accounting and reimbursement 
procedures. The pilot replaces a sponsor's usual obligation to provide 
detailed and separate documentation of actual administrative and 
operating costs up to specified limits. In practice, this documentation 
has little effect, since a large majority of sponsors qualify for the 
maximum reimbursement. In the pilot states, sponsors report the number 
of meals and are reimbursed at a flat rate of $2.50 per meal. This 
allows sponsors in the 13 pilot States to combine both cost categories 
and follow procedure used in the school meals programs for 
reimbursement.
  Although the pilot test is not over, the initial results are 
positive. The Food Research Acton Center released findings today in 
their annual summer nutrition status report, Hunger Does Not Take a 
Vacation. The number of sponsors increased by eight percent in the 
pilot areas compared to one percent across all other states. Most 
important, children's participation in the Summer Food Service Program 
increase by 8.9 percent across the pilot States. This contrasts with a 
3.3 percent decline for the rest of the nation.
  USDA's Secretary Veneman and Under Secretary Bost used their 
authority to facilitate sponsorship and announced, last March, that all 
states may seek waivers to adopt more streamlined administrative 
procedures.
  I think it is now time for Congress to step up and take action to 
further improve the capacity of the Summer Food Service Program. I am 
introducing a new bill, along with Senator Harkin, the Chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee. Our proposed legislation makes the procedural 
simplifications in the pilot a part of the Program's regular operating 
rules. This eliminates the need for waiver requests and waiver 
approval.
  If we are truly committed to the principle that no child will be left 
behind, this is a small step that can make a large difference in 
encouraging local organizations to sponsor a summer feeding program and 
in meeting the nutrition needs of low-income children.
  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. 2660

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN.

       (a) Food Service.--Section 13(b)(1) of the Richard B. 
     Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(b)(1)) is 
     amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(A) In general.--
       ``(i) Private nonprofit organizations.--Subject to 
     subparagraphs (B) and (C), payments to a private nonprofit 
     organization described in subsection (a)(7) shall be equal to 
     the full cost of food service operations (which cost shall 
     include the costs of obtaining, preparing, and serving food, 
     but shall not include administrative costs).
       ``(ii) Service institutions.--Payments to a service 
     institution shall be equal to the maximum amounts for food 
     service under subparagraphs (B) and (C).''.
       (b) Administrative Costs.--Section 13(b) of the Richard B. 
     Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(b)) is 
     amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(3) Administrative costs.--
       ``(A) Private nonprofit institutions.--
       ``(i) Budget.--A private nonprofit organization described 
     in subsection (a)(7), when applying for participation in the 
     program, shall submit a complete budget for administrative 
     costs related to the program, which shall be subject to 
     approval by the State.
       ``(ii) Amount.--Payment to a private nonprofit organization 
     described in subsection (a)(7) for administrative costs shall 
     be equal to the full amount of State-approved administrative 
     costs incurred, except that the payment to the service 
     institution may not exceed the maximum allowable levels 
     determined by the Secretary under the study required under 
     paragraph (4).
       ``(B) Service institutions.--Payment to a service 
     institution for administrative costs shall be equal to the 
     maximum allowable levels determined by the Secretary under 
     the study required under paragraph (4).''.
       (c) Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Section 13(a)(7)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National 
     School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(7)(A)) is amended--
       (A) by striking ``Private'' and inserting ``Subject to 
     paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b), private''; and
       (B) by striking ``other service institutions'' and 
     inserting ``service institutions''.
       (2) Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by striking subsection 
     (f).
       (d) Effective Dates.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
     amendments made by this section take effect on October 1, 
     2003.
       (2) Summer food pilot projects.--The amendment made by 
     subsection (c)(2) takes effect on May 1, 2004.
                                 ______