[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 175 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H12881-H12882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TURNING OUR BACKS ON HUNGRY CHILDREN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to talk 
about one small program in the omnibus appropriations bill which I 
believe is a reflection of America's commitment to defeat terrorism, or 
rather its lack of commitment. It is a reflection of America's 
commitment to address hunger, poverty, illiteracy and ignorance; or 
rather, its lack of commitment; and that reflects America's commitment 
to help educate the children of the world, especially girls; or rather, 
its lack of commitment.
  Tucked away inside the agriculture appropriations section of the 
omnibus bill is $50 million for the George McGovern-Robert Dole 
International Food for Education Program. McGovern-Dole began as a $300 
million pilot program in 2001, providing nutritious meals to nearly 7 
million children in 38 countries. The catch, these children had to 
attend school in order to get the meals. The McGovern-Dole program 
sends wheat from Illinois, Minnesota and Oregon to feed children at 
schools in Bolivia and Lebanon. It sends corn, milk and soybeans from 
Kansas and Wisconsin to feed school children in Nicaragua and 
Guatemala. And it sends lentils from Idaho and Washington to children 
we have helped return to school in Afghanistan. Beans from Colorado, 
rice from Texas and Louisiana, cooking oil from Florida and Tennessee, 
the blood, sweet and tears of America's farmers find their way to 
children attending humble schools around the world.
  Providing food to malnourished children in schools is one of the most 
effective strategies to fight hunger and poverty. Where programs are 
offered, enrollment and attendance rates increase significantly, 
particularly for girls. Instead of working or searching for food to 
combat hunger, children have the chance to go to school. Providing food 
at school is a simple, but effective, means to improve literacy and 
help poor children break out of poverty.
  The McGovern-Dole program helps us achieve many of our foreign policy 
goals, and communicates America's compassion to those around the world. 
At the end of the day, it will be programs like McGovern-Dole that will 
ultimately triumph over poverty and terror.

[[Page H12882]]

  Earlier this year, in February 2003, the United States Department of 
Agriculture evaluated this program, and the conclusions were 
overwhelmingly positive. In addition to significantly reducing the 
incidence of hunger among school-age children, the program was also 
found to promote educational opportunity, especially for girls, among 
some of the poorest populations in the world.
  Sadly, in fiscal year 2003, McGovern-Dole received only $100 million 
in funding, reducing the number of children served to scarcely more 
than 2 million world-wide in just 28 countries. In fiscal year 2004, 
President Bush only asked for $50 million, and if this allocation 
remains unaltered, the United States will literally be taking food out 
of the mouths of yet another one million hungry children and forcing 
their families to remove them from school.
  The senior Senator from Kansas and chairman of the Senate 
Intelligence Committee, Pat Roberts, a leading proponent of the 
McGovern-Dole program in the other body, has stated on a number of 
occasions his belief that this program serves our national security 
interests by attacking the breeding grounds of terrorism, hunger, 
poverty, ignorance and despair, while at the same time ensuring that 
children receive meals in settings where they receive a quality 
education, rather than hate-filled indoctrination.
  I could not agree more. But rather than expanding this program to 
reach even more school-aged children, to help stabilize communities 
devastated by HIV-AIDS, and to support HIV-AIDS orphans so they might 
contribute to the future of their nations rather than burden them, we 
are cutting it again.
  On November 26, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 
released its 2003 report on hunger. It found that after falling 
steadily during the 1990s, hunger is again on the rise. In the 
developing world, the number of malnourished people grew by an average 
of 4.5 million a year for the past 3 years. The report also found that 
hunger exacerbates the AIDS crisis, drives rural people into the 
cities, and forces women and children to trade sex for food and money.
  Yet over the past 3 years, we have cut funding for the McGovern-Dole 
school feeding program so it is now one-sixth of what it once was. This 
is a disgrace, plain and simple.
  Mr. Speaker, we are going in the wrong direction, not just for the 
children of the world, but for the security of our own Nation. I call 
on President Bush and congressional leadership to restore full funding 
in fiscal year 2005 to the George McGovern-Robert Dole International 
Food for Education Program.

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