[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 76 (Thursday, June 3, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6440-S6442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL HUNGER AWARENESS DAY
Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, today in Palmyra, PA, volunteers at the
Lebanon Valley Brethren Home will collect food and sell baked goods for
the ``Great American Bake Sale'' to support their local food bank. In
hundreds of small towns, suburban communities, and cities from New York
to California, thousands of volunteers will help collect food, glean
fields, prepare meals, and raise awareness as a part of National Hunger
Awareness Day.
These dedicated volunteers and their compassionate acts represent a
grassroots citizens' movement motivated to reduce hunger in America.
These volunteers are the people who prepare the dinners and stock the
shelves of the local charities that serve more than 9 million kids who
lack basic food supplies. They are motivated by appalling statistics
that show that more than 13 million children live in what the Federal
Government deems ``food insecure'' households. And, of course, they are
motivated by knowing the needs and faces of the vulnerable people in
their communities.
Last year, an estimated 23 million low-income people--many of whom
are from working families with children, are elderly, or have
disabilities--received a meal or an emergency food box from one of the
estimated 50,000 local hunger relief charities that dot the Nation's
landscape. These charities, of which three-quarters are faith-based
organizations, play an important and complementary role to State, local
and Federal Government efforts to help low-income families achieve
self-sufficiency. But for the family whose benefits have been
exhausted, or the single mother who is waiting for the benefits to
begin, or for those who simply don't want government help, these
charities are the last line of defense against hunger.
Despite the selfless extraordinary work of these charities and their
estimated one million volunteers, the need in many communities too
often exceeds the available resources. At the same time, the United
States throws away nearly 96 billion pounds of food each year.
Legislation I have sponsored, the Charity Aid, Recovery and
Empowerment Act, or the CARE Act, would help close the gap between the
need and available resources. The CARE Act provides farmers and
ranchers, small businesses, and franchisees with a tax incentive that
would allow these smaller business entities to enjoy the same tax
incentives that large corporations receive when they donate food to
charity. The CARE Act's food donation tax incentives will enable
farmers with surplus crops to donate the food to a food bank or
emergency shelter, recouping some of the cost of production and
transportation--and preventing them from having to plow the crops back
into the ground. The CARE Act gives a restaurant owner the incentive to
donate surplus meals to a soup kitchen rather than throwing good food
into a dumpster. America's Second Harvest, the Nation's food bank
network, estimates that the CARE Act will help generate more than 878
million new meals for hungry people over the next 10 years.
This legislation, despite broad, bipartisan support for the food
donation tax incentives and the other provisions in the act, is now
stalled in the Senate, not being allowed to go to conference. The CARE
Act is in jeopardy, and with its fortunes go the hopes of tens of
thousands of people that serve America's most vulnerable families. We
cannot allow partisan differences, unrelated to this legislation, to
undo the promise that the CARE Act offers to millions of Americans. The
CARE Act
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should be allowed to go to a bipartisan conference and thereby ensure
that no food bank, pantry or soup kitchen will have to turn away a
hungry family, senior, or child because the cupboard is bare.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today is National Hunger Awareness Day,
and it is an opportunity for all of us in Congress to pledge a greater
effort to deal effectively with this festering problem that shames our
Nation and has grown even more serious in recent years.
The number of Americans living in hunger, or on the brink of hunger
has increased every year during the current administration. It now
includes 13 million children--400,000 more than when President Bush
took office.
These Americans deserve higher priority by all in Congress. Day in
and day out, the needs of millions of Americans living in poverty have
been overlooked, and too often their voices have been silenced.
These are real people, struggling every day to get by. They are
single mothers serving coffee at the local diner at 5 a.m. and cleaning
houses in the afternoon, yet are still unable to afford both shelter
and food. They are low-wage workers holding down two jobs, yet still
forced to make impossible choices between feeding their family, paying
the rent, and obtaining decent medical care. They are children who go
to bed hungry every night whose parents can't afford to give them more
than a single slim meal a day.
The World Food Summit in 1996 called global attention to this crisis
and in response the Clinton administration pledged to begin an effort
to cut hunger and food insecurity in half in the United States by 2010.
In the boom of the Clinton years, we made progress toward that goal--
hunger decreased steadily through 2000. We now have 6 years left to
fulfill our commitment, and we must not fail.
The answer is a renewed commitment to reaching that goal. The
fastest, most direct way to reduce hunger in the Nation is to improve
and expand the current Federal nutrition programs. Sadly, it is
difficult to persuade the current administration and the current
Congress to fund important child nutrition programs such as the school
breakfast and school lunch programs and the summer food program, but
numerous groups throughout the Nation are doing their best to make a
difference.
Project Bread in Massachusetts helps fund nearly 400 food pantries,
soup kitchens, food banks and food salvage programs across the State,
and also coordinates local efforts to develop effective solutions to
reduce hunger.
Congress can also do better. The Senate Agriculture Committee
approved a bipartisan child nutrition bill last month to strengthen and
expand nutrition programs, and it deserves to be enacted into law as
soon as possible.
A strong job market will also significantly reduce hunger. A major
challenge in today's troubled economy is that it has been creating just
one job for every three out-of-work Americans. We need an economy that
works for everyone, and a job creation plan that enables every American
to afford a decent quality of life.
That means jobs that pay a living wage. Right now, we are sending the
wrong message to low-income workers. We are telling them that hard work
does not pay. We are saying that workers who play by the rules deserve
little or even nothing in return. Why can't we all agree that no one
who works for a living should have to live in poverty, constantly
wondering where the next meal is coming from?
For too many adults of all ages, the fight against hunger is a
constant ongoing struggle. It undermines their productivity, their
earning power, and even their health. It keeps their children from
concentrating and learning in school.
It makes no sense to allow the gap between rich and poor to grow
wider. We can not ignore the poorest in our Nation, and all those who
need our help the most. National Hunger Awareness Day is our chance to
rededicate ourselves in Congress to this cause, and we can't afford to
miss it.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. President. I rise today to speak about a problem
impacting communities across the United States and throughout the
world. As many of my colleagues know, today is National Hunger
Awareness Day. It is a day meant to focus our attention on our friends,
coworkers, classmates, and neighbors for whom putting food on the table
continues to be a daily struggle. Sadly, for the nearly 35 million
Americans who are ``hungry'' or ``food insecure,'' hunger is more than
a statistic, it is an insomnia within the American dream. This is a
reality that the people of my home State of Oregon know far too well.
For the last several years, Oregon has been at or near the top of
repeated nationwide studies of hunger and food insecurity in the United
States. And I can tell you that as a member of this chamber and an
Oregonian, the statistics on hunger and food insecurity continue to
confound me. Despite all of our advances in agriculture technology and
food distribution, children and families in my State and around the
country will go to bed hungry tonight. The sad irony is that many of
the communities most affected by hunger are the very ones that grow the
food upon which the rest of us rely.
On the horizon, Oregon's economy appears to be brightening. While
there are no quick fixes, I believe that solving hunger is within our
grasp. Later today, Senator Lincoln and I will be announcing the
creation of the Senate Hunger Caucus. This caucus will serve as a forum
to raise awareness and foster cooperation among business interests,
community leaders, and local, State, and national non-profits to work
with Congress to address hunger.
As policymakers, our job is to take the pieces of this puzzle and put
them together in a way that leaves our communities whole and healthy.
Government cannot act alone to solve the problem but must work in
concert with those who are best able to help. I believe the creation of
the Senate caucus is an important step in focusing on this problem. I
look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and groups back
in Oregon to address these issues.
In Oregon, we have been blessed with a number of organizations and
individuals who have taken it upon themselves to help in this effort
and assist their neighbors in need. Groups such as Birch Community
Services and the Oregon Food Bank have shown themselves to be true
assets to their communities. As an Oregonian, I can tell you that I am
especially proud of how they have responded to what has been a
difficult last couple of years in our State, and I look forward to
continuing to work with them in the fight against hunger.
Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today to bring attention to the
fact that it is National Hunger Awareness Day and to raise the
visibility of issues of hunger in America.
What is the face of hunger in America? A child. A mother. A father. A
single working parent. A homeless person. A grandmother raising
grandchildren. A grandfather. A senior citizen living off of social
security. An unemployed person. A disabled worker. A military veteran.
People of all races and ethnicities.
These are the faces of the almost 35 million Americans that live in
households that are food insecure. Food insecurity is not isolated to
one region. These 35 million Americans live in the small towns of New
England, in the large cities of New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta.
They live in the deltas of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi and the
plains of the Dakotas down to Kansas. There is food insecurity and
hunger in the timber regions of Washington and Oregon and on the
beaches of California. Food insecurity affects the States of the four
corners down into Texas and Oklahoma. No region of this country is
without hunger.
Today is National Hunger Awareness Day. I have come to the Senate
floor to talk about hunger in America and to raise awareness about the
complex issues surrounding hunger.
When many Americans think of hunger they often think of starving
people in developing countries around the world, and the number of
hungry people living around the world is staggering.
Eight hundred million people, including children, are hungry and food
insecure in the world today. America must continue to lead in its
generosity to aid the world's food insecure. But hunger is not just a
distant problem for developing countries. Hunger exists among our own
citizens here in America.
Because today is National Hunger Awareness Day, I will focus my
remarks on the less recognized face of
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hunger and that is the face of the Americans, our neighbors, and our
fellow citizens who are hungry and food insecure.
What does food insecurity mean? Food insecurity is limited or
uncertain access to nutritional food. Food insecurity is not knowing
from where the next meal is coming.
Food insecurity is not unique among the homeless and unemployed. On
the contrary, many food insecure households in America have at least
one working adult. We need only compare the national unemployment
numbers with the food insecurity numbers to see that they don't match
up. There are far more food insecure individuals than there are
unemployed people. America's working poor are finding it difficult to
make ends meet and at times provide the most basic needs for their
family--nutritious food.
Perhaps our most vulnerable food insecure individuals are our
children and seniors. Due to the high costs of healthcare and living
expenses, many seniors often find themselves choosing between medicine
and groceries because they may not be able to afford both. Programs
such as Meals on Wheels and local community senior programs are so
important to the health of our seniors.
Children rely on parents to provide for their basic needs. Of the 35
million people who are food insecure in America, just over 13 million
are children. This is the same number of children that are receiving
free lunches through the National School Lunch Program. This vital
program provides many children with the most nutritious meal they will
receive in a given day. We must continue to find opportunities to fill
in the gaps because the National School Lunch Program only covers
Monday through Friday during the school year. The traditional three
months of summer vacation from school is a critical time when many
children are missing essential nutrition in their diets.
One example of a successful program in my home State of Arkansas is
helping feed children outside of school. The Arkansas Rice Depot's Food
For Kids program provides hungry children with a quick, high-energy
snack during school and then provides a backpack filled with nutritious
foods children can prepare for themselves at home. The Food For Kids
program is serving 329 schools and 15,000 students in Arkansas. Founded
in 1995, this program is the first of its kind in the Nation and now 20
cities across the Nation have established similar programs.
Throughout my remarks I have mentioned the word nutrition. In the
fight to end hunger, providing access to nutritious food is key. Many
Americans are now waking up to the long-term health complications
caused by obesity. It may seem strange to talk about obesity and hunger
at the same time but the reality is that people with limited access to
money and food typically consume the cheapest food that they can
purchase in large quantities, and often these foods lack important
nutrients for a balanced diet. We can fight obesity early on by
educating children about nutrition and help provide opportunities for
children to access nutritious foods at school and at after school
programs. Additionally, through food assistance programs we must
continue to encourage adults to access nutritious foods and help
provide opportunities to learn about nutrition.
For Americans, hunger does not mean entire towns and villages full of
starving people--people literally starving and dying because they
cannot eat. Fortunately, we are able to provide the citizens most in
need with access to some kind of food to meet basic needs through
Federal and State assistance programs such as Food Stamps, WIC, the
National School Lunch Program, and thousands of non-profit
organizations, churches, faith-based groups, and dedicated individuals.
The challenges in America are to continue to find ways to provide
Americans that are food insecure with access to nutritious meals and
opportunities to gain skills to improve their economic situation and
quality of life.
To that end, today, along with my friend from Oregon, Senator Smith,
I am pleased to announce the formation of the U.S. Senate Hunger
Caucus. We are delighted that many of our colleagues are joining us in
this bipartisan effort to work on national and international hunger
issues. The Senate Hunger Caucus will be a vehicle through which
Senators can work together to promote initiatives to help address the
root causes of hunger and to help form partnerships with the many
valuable organizations and programs that are committed to ending
hunger.
Just a few hours ago, I was joined by my good friends, Senators Smith
and Dole, at the D.C. Central Kitchen where we announced the formation
of the Senate Hunger Caucus and discussed many of the key hunger issues
in America. The D.C. Central Kitchen is located just a few blocks from
the U.S. Capitol and is a nationally known food rescue organization.
The D.C. Central Kitchen converts rescued or donated food into 4,000
meals each day, 365 days a year, which feed the hungry in the
Washington metropolitan area. As a part of the D.C. Central Kitchen
program, unemployed people are trained to gain job skills that enable
them to find work in the culinary arts industry. The D.C. Central
Kitchen is a great model for taking wasted food and turning it into
nutritious meals and economic opportunities for people in need.
We were pleased to be joined at today's event by representatives of
many of the national anti-hunger groups that we look forward to
partnering with in this effort: Some of these groups include: America's
Second Harvest, American School Food Service Association, Bread for the
World, Congressional Hunger Center, Food Research and Action Center,
Share Our Strength, the World Food Program and Heifer International.
At this time, I want to recognize many of the Arkansas groups working
to fight hunger and encourage nutritious living, and they include:
Arkansas Hunger Coalition, Arkansas Foodbank Network, Harvest
Texarkana, Potluck, Inc., Arkansas Rice Depot, Northwest Arkansas
Foodbank, Northeast Arkansas Foodbank, North Central Arkansas Foodbank,
Southwest Arkansas, Food bank, Bradley County Helping Hand, Ozark
Foodbank, Memphis Foodbank, Winrock, Heifer International, Arkansas
School Food Service Association, Arkansas Advocates for Children and
Families, Arkansas Community Action Agencies, Arkansas Farmers and
Hunters Feeding the Hungry, local food pantries, churches and many
others who work to feed Arkansans in need. Many of these groups are
also using today as a time to talk about hunger and food insecurity.
In closing, it's easy for me to be passionate about the issue of
hunger. As a farmer's daughter I was raised with an understanding of
the value of having access to food--to good, safe and nutritious food.
As the daughter of two compassionate, Christian parents I was taught to
help others and to share my blessings with those in need. As a mother
of two young boys I can empathize with the fear that a parent feels
when they must answer a hungry child when there is no food to be eaten.
Just the other day, one of my boys ran into the house and said ``Mom,
I'm starving.'' And I replied, ``what would you like?'' Later on I
thought about the mothers whose children ask the same question but they
don't have food to offer, they can't just reach into the cabinet to
pull out food. It was a devastating thought and my heart goes out to
the mothers and fathers who at times are not sure where the next meal
is coming from.
My home State of Arkansas knows hunger. With almost 600,000 Arkansans
living below the national poverty line, hunger, food insecurity,
obesity and limited access to nutritious foods are key issues. With a
State population of 2.6 million, approximately 380,000 Arkansans live
in food insecure households.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate as well as
hunger non-profit organizations in my State and across the Nation to
find solutions to hunger problems plaguing our nation and world. And to
dream of the day when globally, working together to harness our vast
resources, we can end hunger.
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