[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9824-H9826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H9824]]
  REAUTHORIZING CERTAIN SCHOOL LUNCH AND CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2004

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3232) to reauthorize certain school lunch and child 
nutrition programs for fiscal year 2004, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3232

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

     SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION.

       (a) Exclusion of Certain Military Housing Allowances.--
     Section 9(b)(7) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(7)) is amended by inserting 
     ``and through March 31, 2004'' after ``and 2003''.
       (b) Child and Adult Care Food Program.--Section 
     17(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking 
     ``September 30, 2003'' and inserting ``March 31, 2004''.
       (c) Reimbursement to States Under Commodity Distribution 
     Programs.--Section 15(e) of the Commodity Distribution Reform 
     Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public 
     Law 100-237) is amended by striking ``October 1, 2003'' and 
     inserting ``April 1, 2004''.
       (d) Funding Maintenance of Commodity Distribution 
     Programs.--Section 14(a) of the Richard B. Russell National 
     School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762a(a)) is amended by striking 
     ``September 30, 2003'' and inserting ``March 31, 2004''.
       (e) Summer Food Service Program for Children.--
       (1) Section 13(q) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(q)) is amended by striking ``the 
     fiscal year beginning'' and all that follows through 
     ``October 1, 2003'' and inserting ``the period beginning 
     October 1, 1977, and ending March 31, 2004''.
       (2) Section 18(f)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National 
     School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(f)(2)) is amended by 
     striking ``of fiscal years 2001 through 2003'' and inserting 
     ``beginning October 1, 2000, and ending March 31, 2004''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Delaware (Mr. Castle) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).


                             General Leave

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 3232.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Delaware?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support bipartisan legislation that extends 
certain child nutrition provisions through March 31 of 2004. This 
extension is vital to ensure that low-income children have access to 
safe and nutritious food in school, after school, and during the summer 
months.
  Members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the House 
and of the Committee on Agriculture in the Senate are busy preparing 
legislation to reauthorize and improve all the child nutrition programs 
included in the Child Nutrition and the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch acts. Included in these acts are: the National School 
Lunch and Breakfast Programs, WIC, and the Child and Adult Care Food, 
After School Snack, and Summer Food Service Programs. These programs 
are a critical part of our Nation's effort to ensure that needy 
children in America do not go hungry.
  I have been pleased with the progress made in preparing a 
reauthorization bill for introduction. Despite our progress, however, 
committee members do not want to draft such important legislation in 
haste and so need additional time to ensure that any changes to the 
current law best serve the interests of the children whom these 
programs are intended to reach. The extensions included in this 
legislation can assure us that millions of needy children will not lose 
access to meals and snacks that are needed for their healthy growth and 
development and academic success in school.
  Millions of children, including many whose mothers and fathers serve 
in America's armed services, rely on these programs each day. Without 
this legislation, many children who reside with their parents in 
privatized military housing would lose the benefit of free or reduced-
price school meals. In Delaware, approximately 250 children will 
benefit from this extension, and up to 100,000 children nationwide. 
Taking these subsidies from children when many of their mothers and 
fathers are fighting for our Nation's security at home and abroad would 
have a devastating effect on these families.
  This legislation also would continue the availability of healthy 
meals and snacks to low-income children enrolled in for-profit child 
care centers. Additionally, this legislation would allow schools, 
churches, and community organizations to operate Summer Food Service 
Program sites and in 14 States to continue special pilot programs that 
reduce paperwork and thereby increase the number of disadvantaged 
children who receive free meals and snacks during the summer months.
  Mr. Speaker, these are just a few reasons why H.R. 3232 should be 
approved today with unanimous support. The child nutrition provisions 
that would be extended through this legislation benefit America's most 
vulnerable children. It is our duty as lawmakers to ensure that these 
at-risk children and their families can continue to receive the 
benefits for which they have been deemed eligible until the Congress 
can complete its work on legislation reauthorizing both the Child 
Nutrition Act and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
  I conclude by asking my fellow colleagues to please join me in 
support of H.R. 3232.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am pleased to join the chairman, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. 
Castle), in urging passage of H.R. 3232 to ensure that the authority 
for important child nutrition programs does not expire before the House 
leadership makes the time to debate these most important issues in the 
committee and on the floor.
  I do hope, however, that when the time comes for the real 
reauthorization of child nutrition, we can work together in this same 
bipartisan way to make sure every eligible infant and child in this 
Nation has access to nutritious food: at home, through the WIC program; 
in child care, through the Child and Adult Food program; in school, 
through the School Breakfast and Lunch programs; during out-of-school 
time, through After-School and Summer programs; and in homeless and 
domestic violence shelters.
  Even modest investments in the child nutrition programs will reduce 
hunger and improve children's health, their well-being, and their 
educational success.
  Healthy children are the best investment we can make in this Nation's 
future. Unfortunately, too many children in America are hungry. The 
2003 key national indicators of children's well-being reports that 
nearly 46 percent of American children who live in poverty were in 
food-insecure households, households that reported difficulty in 
obtaining enough food and increased use of emergency food sources 
resulting in reduced food intake and resulting in hunger.
  At the same time, too many American children are at risk because they 
are obese. Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled over the 
past 20 years, resulting in children suffering from the early onset of 
such traditional adult diseases as hypertension, diabetes, and heart 
disease.
  This week, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and I, 
as well as other Democratic members of the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce, will be introducing a bill that increases access to the 
child nutrition programs and sets the stage for improving the 
nutritional quality of the foods available to children during the 
school day. Our bill establishes a Federal policy of ``do no harm'' to 
ensure that no eligible children are pushed off school food programs. 
It also eliminates the reduced-price category and increases direct 
certification so that more children are eligible for free school meals.
  The Democratic childs nutrition bill also makes it easier for new 
moms and their babies to participate in the WIC program.
  By calling on experts from the Institute of Medicine to develop 
nutrition standards for the foods sold in competition with school 
meals, the Democratic

[[Page H9825]]

child nutrition meal will make it easier for schools to offer students 
healthy foods everywhere on school grounds.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have other ideas on 
child nutrition reauthorization as well. The money is there to fund all 
of these ideas if the administration and the Congress want to do it. If 
we can afford to reconstruct Iraq, if we can afford tax cuts for the 
wealthiest Americans, and tax breaks to offshore corporations, we can 
afford to feed hungry American children and help them eat healthy food.

                              {time}  1415

  I look forward to working with the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. 
Castle) and all of my colleagues to expand and improve the child 
nutrition programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3232 and in support of making 
nutritious food available to our Nation's poor and low-income children 
and not to leave any hungry child behind.
  The National School Lunch Program is just one step in developing our 
children into the prosperous, successful individuals we want them to 
become. Poorly fed children have more difficulty learning, are less 
attentive in class and suffer more chronic problems, such as 
absenteeism and tardiness, than children who are properly nourished. 
According to the Food Research and Action Center, proper nutrition 
improves a child's behavior, school performance, and overall cognitive 
development. All in all, properly nourished children more actively 
participate in the education experience, which benefits them, their 
fellow students, and the entire school community.
  Studies have shown what we already know, that healthy school meals 
play a critical and positive role in students' development and 
learning. According to the United States Department of Agriculture in 
2000, 10.5 percent of all households, representing 20 million adults 
and 13 million children, were considered food insecure due to a lack of 
resources. In 2001, Illinois reported 9.2 percent of households to be 
food insecure, which represents 3,239,229 children under the age of 18.
  By making nutritious meals available to all school children, the 
National School Lunch Program should ensure us that every child who 
needs a healthy meal can receive one. Unfortunately, the plan does not 
yet do that. In a State like Illinois and a city like Chicago, where 
there are large numbers of low-income people, poor children, we need to 
make sure that we revise every plan and have every opportunity to have 
nutritious meals for these individuals without undue burden of 
paperwork that sometimes would cause them to be left out. I support 
this legislation and hope that we are going to make it easier to 
receive the benefit.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Ms. Majette).
  Ms. MAJETTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time.
  I rise today to stress the importance of child nutrition and to 
support the extension of these programs with the passage of H.R. 3232. 
These programs will be reauthorized today with little fanfare. Their 
significance, however, far exceeds the attention we will devote to 
them.
  The first time Congress authorized a nutrition program for our 
children was during the Great Depression in 1935. At that time, 
millions of children came to school unable to pay for their school 
lunches. Malnutrition among children was a national concern. Despite 
our country's poor economic conditions, Congress realized that its 
first priority must be to feed our Nation's hungry children. Today, 
child nutrition programs have been expanded, and they represent the 
best of America because after all, a hungry child cannot learn.
  I am pleased to note that these programs are very successful in 
feeding hungry children. In my home State of Georgia, more than 600,000 
children are given financial support to purchase much-needed lunch 
meals. For many, it is the only meal they will have all day. There are 
more than 300,000 children who also participate in the subsidized 
School Breakfast Program in Georgia.
  Since the National School Lunch Act was first enacted in 1946, 
attention to the nutritional value of these school lunches has steadily 
increased. We have learned that poor nutrition leads to impaired 
cognitive development and reduced school performance. That is why 
successful Head Start programs point to good nutrition as a necessary 
element to teach our neediest children. We cannot teach our children 
without first giving them the essential nutrition so vital to their 
ability to learn.
  Despite the renewed focus on nutrition, we are in the midst of a 
public health crisis in terms of obesity. Nearly 30 percent of adults 
and 15 percent of children in our Nation are now categorized as obese. 
With obesity comes the increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, 
insomnia and other health-related difficulties; and the medical costs 
associated with this crisis are estimated to be as much as $100 billion 
per year. So it is clear that we need to act now to curb this crisis.
  Although most Americans know eating more fruits and vegetables is a 
necessary part of maintaining good nutrition, just last week a new 
study found that more than 40 percent of toddlers in the Women, 
Infants, and Children, or the WIC, program did not eat any fruit at all 
on the day of the survey. In fact, the WIC program does not even 
provide access to fruits and vegetables.
  But, Mr. Speaker, there is hope. Last week I visited East Lake 
Elementary School in Atlanta and asked the fifth grade class what they 
wanted to add to their school lunch menu. They requested kiwis, 
strawberries and plums. They did not ask for cake or cookies, so they 
understand the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
  As Congress reauthorizes these programs, we must not forget their 
importance, and we must not forget that they continue, and we continue, 
to feed our hungry children. At the same time, we must ensure that our 
child nutrition programs move forward with a new knowledge about what 
is best for the health of our children.
  Through these programs, we will have the opportunity to teach our 
children the eating habits that will allow them to protect their own 
health throughout their lives, and we can teach them the fundamentals 
of good health, that an apple a day is not just for teachers any more.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Holt).
  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, today we are considering H.R. 3232, a bill to 
reauthorize certain school lunch and child nutrition programs. While I 
am glad to see that these programs will not expire, I am concerned 
about making progress toward a full 5-year reauthorization, and I know 
the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) intends to see that we have a 
good reauthorization, and I look forward to working with the gentleman 
and the rest of the committee in a bipartisan way.
  I would like to take this opportunity to discuss what I see are some 
issues that must be addressed in any new reauthorization. Ensuring 
healthy children is a worthwhile investment in the future of millions 
of children and in the future of our country's economic well-being. And 
as has been discussed by the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Majette), 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) and the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis), there are children in America that go hungry 
during the school day and others who battle illness caused by poor 
nutrition.
  The documentary evidence is clear, and we do not need to review it 
here; it coincides with common sense: School child nutrition programs 
help children learn. Meal programs offered in schools and child care 
settings and after school and summer programs and through WIC offer an 
ideal way to address child health issues directly, and to build 
healthful eating habits.
  When we do get a 5-year reauthorization, we should require local 
education

[[Page H9826]]

authorities to establish a school nutrition policy, I would suggest by 
July of 2005, that, at a minimum, gives the school food director 
operational responsibility for foods sold on campus. We should request 
that the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences 
recommend to the Secretary nutritional standards for school foods. The 
Food and Nutrition Service should be required to place a greater 
emphasis on fruits and vegetables in the commodities programs and 
school meals.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to pass a reauthorization that expands the 
current fruit and vegetable pilot programs so they reach more students. 
We must authorize grants to nonprofits and local school districts for 
farm-to-cafeteria projects which include nutritional education 
activities, which incorporate the participation of school children in 
farm and agricultural education projects.
  In addition, we must eliminate the reduced price category of meals to 
allow children and families up to 185 percent of poverty to receive a 
free meal. The children that are designated in this reduced-price 
category are really between a rock and a hard place when it comes to 
eating at school. These are children that are both hungry and in many 
cases embarrassed because their parents are often not able to send the 
money to school to pay for their meals. It would be better if this 
category were removed and all children eligible would be treated the 
same in the nutrition programs.
  Mr. Speaker, as we reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, I hope my 
concerns are addressed and we can ensure healthy meals for our children 
in school; and with that, I do support H.R. 3232.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, just as a final thought, children are about 25 percent 
of our population. They are 100 percent of the future of this Nation, 
and what they eat really will equate to what our future will be. We 
must make sure that we do the best job we can for every child in this 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I have listened intently to the speakers here today. We 
are all concerned about getting the reauthorization of these programs 
done correctly, and that is going to take some final work, but all of 
us, I am sure, are in total agreement of the significance and 
importance of the programs, and, hopefully, when all is said and done, 
in 6 months we will be able to do that. For now, it is essential that 
we pass H.R. 3232.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support for H.R. 3232, which 
would extend the authorization for the expiring portions of child 
nutrition legislation for an additional six months. This bill, which 
was introduced by my colleague Mr. Castle, is also cosponsored by the 
Ranking Member of the Committee, Mr. Miller, and Ms. Woolsey, Ranking 
Member on the Education Reform Subcommittee. I thank all of them for 
their support.
  The Child Nutrition programs include the National School Lunch and 
Breakfast Programs; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for 
Women, Infants, and Children (or WIC); the Child and Adult Care Food 
Program; the After School Snack Program; and the Summer Food Service 
Program.
  These invaluable programs--which are responsible for providing 
nutritious meals to millions of children and adults every day--are due 
for reauthorization this year. In order to ensure that the Committee 
has the opportunity to consider the reauthorization process carefully, 
we are seeking to extend the current authorization an additional six 
months.
  This bill contains one provision of particular importance to our 
nation's soldiers, sailors and airmen. If this legislation is not 
approved, the children of Armed Forces members who live in privatized 
military housing and who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch 
will lose their school meal subsidies. This would be an insult to these 
parents who work every day to secure our nation's freedom.
  In addition, this legislation contains a provision that allow for-
profit child care centers to continue to participate in the Child and 
Adult Care Food Program, and to continue to provide meals and snacks to 
centers where at least 25 percent of the children enrolled meet the 
income eligibility requirements for free and reduced-price lunch.
  Parents will always bear primary responsibility for their children's 
health and nutrition, but this bill provides assistance for those who 
are having trouble making ends meet. The overall goal of all of the 
child nutrition programs is to make sure that low-income children and 
families have access to low-cost meals and snacks that are safe and 
nutritious. The reauthorization process is a chance for us to look at 
the current system and see how well it is meeting those goals. We must 
take into account a number of actors, including efficiency, nutrition, 
cost-effectiveness, and protecting school revenue. We would like to 
take this additional six months to be sure that we address all of these 
issues to the best of our ability.
  This bipartisan bill is a simple, straightforward tool to make sure 
that we are serving the millions of low-income children who depend upon 
the programs contained in the Child Nutrition and Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Acts. I hope you will join me and my colleagues 
in voting ``yes'' on H.R. 3232.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
3232, legislation to reauthorize certain school lunch and child 
nutrition programs.
  The federal child nutrition programs continue to be a great success 
story. The National School Lunch program, enacted in 1946 as a measure 
of national security, currently serves more than 28 million children 
each day.
  The need for this program has never been greater. With childhood 
obesity growing at an alarming rate--especially among low income and 
minority populations--it has never been more critical that our children 
have access to high quality, nutritious food choices at school.
  The legislation we are considering today is only a temporary 
reauthorization, since this program expires and we have not completed 
the heavy lifting necessary for a full five year authorization.
  I urge my colleagues who are working on this issue to make a number 
of significant improvements to these various childhood tuition 
programs, including:
  Increasing the income limit for those children who qualify for a free 
lunch from 130% of the federal poverty limit to 185% of the federal 
poverty limit, thereby eliminating the reduced price category of this 
program;
  Providing the USDA commodities for the School Breakfast Program;
  Lowering the area eligibility guideline to 40% for the Child Care, 
at-risk after school and Summer Foodservice programs; and
  Increasing the USDA reimbursement rates for child nutrition, 
consistent with a USDA analysis of the costs to produce a lunch. In 
most areas of the country, the cost to produce a school lunch is now 
greater than the reimbursement rate for a free lunch of $2.14.
  A child who is hungry cannot be expected to learn. A few years back, 
this Congress enacted legislation that promised no child will be left 
behind. If we are to keep that promise, we must ensure that all 
children have a healthy and nutritious lunch.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3232, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
reauthorize certain school lunch and child nutrition programs through 
March 31, 2004.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________