[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 35 (Thursday, March 18, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H1279-H1280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HUNGER AND POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, over the past few months I have spoken on 
this floor on a weekly basis about the scourge of hunger around the 
world, especially among children. I have talked about the importance of 
adequately funding the McGovern-Dole Food For Education and Child 
Nutrition Program, which would provide children around the world with a 
nutritious school meal.
  If we are going to make this world a safer and better place, I 
strongly believe that we must eradicate hunger. This is something we 
can do. There are some problems that we cannot solve, but hunger is not 
one of them.
  It is important, however, in any discussion about hunger that we not 
ignore the problem of hunger that persists right here at home. In the 
face of world starvation, Americans tend to forget that millions of 
people in this country continue to go without food every day. 
Thankfully, we do not have the rampant starvation that affects places 
like the Horn of Africa, but that does not mean people are not going 
without food every day right here in the United States.
  When we talk about hunger in America, we are really talking about 
food insecurity. According to the Food Research and Action Center, food 
insecurity refers to the lack of access to enough food to fully meet 
basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources.
  According to the United States Department of Agriculture, about 35 
million people experienced food insecurity

[[Page H1280]]

in 2002. This is an increase of 3.9 million people in just 3 years. Of 
the 12.1 million households that were food insecure in 2002, 3.8 
million suffered from such severe food insecurity that they are 
classified as hungry.
  The root cause of most food insecurity and hunger in America is 
poverty. It is unconscionable that in 2004 there are people in this 
country who do not have enough money to buy food. Approximately 35 
million Americans live in poverty, about the same number of people who 
were food insecure and hungry. The correlation is obvious. The poorest 
people in this country are going hungry. The sad reality is that every 
day there are parents who sacrifice their own food so that their kids 
can eat.
  I recently read a speech by my friend, the late Senator Paul 
Wellstone, delivered at Iowa State University in 1998. In that speech, 
Senator Wellstone recalled how he traveled to the Mississippi Delta 
after reading the book ``Let Them Eat Promises'' by Nick Kotz, 
following in the footsteps of Robert Kennedy. Senator Wellstone was so 
moved by the story about how Robert Kennedy, when touring the country 
to see firsthand the poverty and hunger that ravaged parts of this 
Nation, tried to connect with a young boy in the Mississippi Delta. 
When the boy would not even respond because of his severe 
malnourishment, Bobby Kennedy just broke down and cried.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I am afraid that if we left this Capitol 
building right now and traveled to another part of Washington or 
another city and town in America, we would find a similar situation. On 
that July day at Iowa State University, Senator Wellstone asked his 
audience, ``Can't we do better?'' Well, Mr. Speaker, the answer is, 
yes, we can.
  During the last several decades, Congress has passed landmark 
legislation providing nutritious meals for low-income children and 
families. While the programs created over the last century do not 
adequately address the problem of poverty in America, they help in part 
to alleviate the food insecurity caused by poverty. These programs are 
vitally important and have improved the quality of millions of lives 
since their adoption.
  The school lunch program, the school breakfast program, WIC and food 
stamps are just a few of the landmark programs that make up the core of 
our antihunger safety net here in the United States. Many of these 
programs are up for reauthorization this year, and our colleagues on 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by the gentleman from 
Ohio (Chairman Boehner) and the gentleman from California (Ranking 
Member George Miller), have produced a bipartisan bill that 
reauthorizes and expands many of these programs.
  While I am disappointed that this bill, as currently drafted, does 
not go farther than it does, it is a good bill considering the 
circumstances under which it was drafted, and I am looking forward to 
its consideration in the near future.
  Mr. Speaker, while these programs are important and need to be 
reauthorized and expanded, issues I will talk about at a later date, we 
cannot continue to ignore the fact that poverty is the root cause of 
food insecurity and hunger here in the United States.
  We have a moral responsibility to end food insecurity and hunger. We 
have a moral responsibility to end and combat poverty. We can achieve 
these goals if we have the moral and political courage to do so.
  The President recently challenged us to do what is necessary to put a 
man on Mars. That is a fine goal; but I would submit that a better, 
more urgent goal is combating hunger and ending poverty. We should 
begin a new war on poverty.
  Let us utilize all that the government and the private sector can do 
to undertake this challenge. Only then will we end the scourge of food 
insecurity and hunger.

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