[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H1686-H1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SCHOOL LUNCH AND CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS REAUTHORIZATION

  Mr. CASTLE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 2241) to reauthorize certain school lunch and child 
nutrition programs through June 30, 2004.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2241

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

     SECTION 1. 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 striking 
     ``March 31, 2004'' and inserting ``June 30, 2004''.

     SEC. 2. 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 ``March 31, 2004'' and inserting ``June 30, 2004''.

     SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT TO STATES UNDER COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION 
                   PROGRAMS.

       Section 15(e) of the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and 
     WIC Amendments of

[[Page H1687]]

     1987 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public Law 100-237) is amended by 
     striking ``April 1, 2004'' and inserting ``July 1, 2004''.

     SEC. 4. 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 ``March 
     31, 2004'' and inserting ``June 30, 2004''.

     SEC. 5. SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN.

       (a) In General.--Section 13(q) of the Richard B. Russell 
     National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(q)) is amended by 
     striking ``March 31, 2004'' and inserting ``June 30, 2004''.
       (b) Pilot Projects.--Section 18(f)(2) of the Richard B. 
     Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(f)(2)) is 
     amended by striking ``March 31, 2004'' and inserting ``June 
     30, 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. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on S. 2241.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Delaware?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CASTLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to support bipartisan legislation that extends 
certain child nutrition provisions, that are set to expire at the end 
of this month, through June 30, 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.
  The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, WIC, the Child and 
Adult Care Food, After School Snack, and Summer Food Service Programs, 
together make up a network of Federal child nutrition programs that are 
a critical part of our Nation's effort to ensure that needy children in 
America do not go hungry.
  One week ago, the House passed H.R. 3873, the Child Nutrition 
Improvement and Integrity Act, with overwhelming bipartisan support. 
H.R. 3873 significantly improves Federal child nutrition programs by 
increasing program access for eligible children, enhancing program 
integrity, and emphasizing the importance of nutrition education, 
balanced diets, and physical activity to reduce the incidence of 
childhood obesity.
  I urge the other body to pass companion legislation to reauthorize 
child nutrition programs soon so that children and their families can 
take advantage of these and other improvements to current law contained 
in H.R. 3873.
  The extensions included in today's legislation are a temporary 
measure to assure the continuation of current law until final 
legislation is signed into law. S. 2241 will 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 would also 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, continue special pilot programs to 
reduce paperwork and thereby increase the number of disadvantaged 
children who receive free meals and snacks during the summer months.
  Madam Speaker, there are just a few reasons why S. 2241 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 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. I 
conclude by asking that my fellow colleagues to please join me in 
support of S. 2241.
  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 my colleagues in urging passage of S. 2241 to 
extend the authority for important child nutrition programs. I was 
pleased to stand on this floor last week with the gentleman from Ohio 
(Chairman Boehner) and the gentleman from Delaware (Chairman Castle), 
the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), ranking member, and 
our entire committee to pass H.R. 3873, the Child Nutrition Improvement 
and Integrity Act, the House bill which both authorizes and makes some 
important improvements to the Federal child nutrition program.
  H.R. 3873 improves accuracy in the school meals program without 
dropping eligible children. It makes it easier for eligible students to 
get free and reduced meals by making the application process easier.
  H.R. 3873 makes homeless and migrant youth and children whose 
families receive food stamps automatically eligible for free meals. It 
allows youth up to age 18 to participate in meals programs if they are 
living in domestic violence or homeless shelters. It increases startup 
and expansion grants for the School Breakfast Program and includes a 
study of the best ways to overcome common barriers to offering 
breakfasts at all schools for all students.
  H.R. 3873 helps students make better food choices and fight obesity 
with team nutrition which provides nutrition education to students and 
training and support to improve the nutrition of food sold in schools. 
It requires school districts to develop a local wellness policy which 
addresses both what students eat at school and the role that physical 
activity plays in good health. It creates greater opportunities for 
schools.
  It includes fresh and dried fruits and fresh vegetables in school 
meals, gets our very youngest children off to a healthy start with the 
new WIC Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program that will study the benefits 
of including fruit and vegetables in the WIC food package.
  When we passed H.R. 3873 last week, Mr. Speaker, we proved that child 
nutrition truly is a bipartisan priority here in the House of 
Representatives. I urge my colleagues in the other body to make it a 
priority as well so that we can get child nutrition reauthorization and 
the improvements we need into law.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The primary goal of all of the Federal child nutrition programs is to 
increase opportunities for low-income infants and children so that they 
will eat nutritious food. Anytime the economy takes a turn for the 
worse, as it has done for a while now, we can see it first in the 
number of low-income children who do not have enough to eat.

                              {time}  1400

  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.
  WIC and the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and the Child and 
Adult Care Food Program are our very best weapons in the fight against 
childhood hunger. These programs ensure that 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

[[Page H1688]]

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.
  Another way to get more food to hungry kids, particularly kids in 
working poor families, would be to pass the bill of the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays), of which I am a cosponsor, to phase out the 
reduced price category in school lunch and breakfast.
  The 40 cents fee for reduced school price lunch is a major barrier 
for children of the working poor. While 40 cents may not seem like much 
money to us, if your income is between 130 percent and 185 percent of 
the poverty line and you have more than one child, it is often more 
than you can afford to spend.
  Eliminating the reduced price category would save schools 
immeasurable time and money, because it would reduce their paperwork 
burdens and greatly simplify the eligibility program in the process.
  Eliminating reduced prices works for schools, it works for hungry 
kids, and it should be something we start immediately.
  Another change for the better would be to improve the nutrition 
quality of all of the food sold in our schools. Today, one out of every 
six children is overweight; and childhood obesity raises special 
concerns. It places children at high risk for disease and conditions 
previously only associated with adults. Nearly two-thirds of obese 5- 
to 10-year-olds have at least one additional risk factor for 
cardiovascular disease. There has been a dramatic increase in the 
numbers of children with Type II diabetes, the form of the disease 
directly linked to overweight adults.
  In addition, childhood obesity is a strong predictor of adult 
obesity. A recent study found that 77 percent of children with a body 
mass index greater than the 95th percentile remained obese as adults.
  A study just released by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention found that, if current trends continue, obesity will become 
the leading cause of preventible death by next year; not in the future, 
next year.
  Over-consumption of low nutrition soft drinks and snacks plays a key 
role in childhood obesity. Yet 43 percent of elementary schools, 74 
percent of middle schools, and 98 percent of high schools have vending 
machines, school stores or snack bars that sell soft drinks, candy, 
salty snacks and baked goods that are at high risk and high in fat, 
while, at the same time, not providing healthy snacks as a balance.
  We need a good, scientifically-based study on what is a healthy 
school environment; and then we need to help schools create that 
environment for their students. The child nutrition bill that we passed 
last week takes some good first steps with the local wellness policy 
and team nutrition, but we need to be doing much, much more.
  In addition to that, we should be trying to help all children make 
healthy eating choices. I certainly do not mean that we or should 
anyone else should become food policemen or policewomen, but schools 
can be offered incentives to make healthy foods available, and children 
can be educated to choose those healthy foods.
  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, this is all pretty simple. We are passing this Senate 
bill to extend these programs from the end of March, which is tomorrow, 
until June 30. Hopefully, in that time the other body will take up the 
full reauthorization of these various nutrition programs.
  I think the gentlewoman from California stated it correctly in terms 
of the benefit of those programs. It is my hope, frankly, that they use 
our bill as the base bill for what they are going to do. I think we are 
pretty much in unanimous consent in this House that what is in there 
makes a lot of sense. That is the reason we need to pass this today.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2241, which extends 
the authorization for the expiring portions of federal child nutrition 
programs for an additional three months.
  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. I am pleased to note that the House 
acted decisively last week to approve comprehensive reauthorization 
legislation, showing overwhelming support for a bill that includes 
positive reforms to improve program integrity and ensure services for 
eligible children. Unfortunately we have not had the opportunity to 
complete the reauthorization process with our friends on the other side 
of the Capitol, and for that reason, we are here today seeking to 
extend the current authorization an additional three 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 allows 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 Child Nutrition Improvement & Integrity Act approved by the House 
last week includes important steps to ensure effective and efficient 
use of federal resources dedicated to child nutrition programs. The 
bipartisan bill, authored by Representative Mike Castle (R-DE), would 
significantly enhance integrity in how the child nutrition programs are 
administered, and would ensure vulnerable children and families have 
improved access to nutritional services. I am eager to move forward 
with the Child Nutrition Improvement & Integrity Act, and I believe the 
extension before us will allow the Congress to complete a thorough and 
comprehensive reauthorization process that includes the positive 
reforms approved by the House last week.
  This bipartisan bill is a simple, straightforward tool to make sure 
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. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the bill 
before us today and I encourage the House to act once again in a 
bipartisan show of support for federal child nutrition programs by 
voting ``yes'' on S. 2241.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Whitfield). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2241.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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