[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 186 (Thursday, December 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14855-S14856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN:
  S. 2431. A bill to address emergency shortages in food banks; to the 
Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, across Ohio and the Nation, many families 
rely on food banks to survive. I rise to introduce an emergency 
assistance measure--$40 million in bridge funding for the Emergency 
Food Assistance Program.
  When a child knows there will be no dinner waiting for her at home, 
that is an emergency. When a mother or father cannot put food on the 
table for a family, that is an emergency. When an elderly couple eats 
one small meal a day, that is an emergency. Across the country, lines 
at food banks are already longer than they were at this time last year. 
That is an emergency. It is a health emergency. It is a humanitarian 
emergency.
  In Ohio, food reserves intended to last until July are projected to 
run out by February. Food banks are being forced to ration food and 
turn hungry people away already, in a particularly bad time of year. In 
Lorain County, in north central and northern Ohio, the food bank has 
run out of food three times this winter. Remember, it is only early 
December. Many of us, especially in this Chamber, who are so very 
blessed, celebrate the holidays by buying presents for our loved ones. 
For too many families in Ohio and in other States across this country, 
food on the

[[Page S14856]]

table will be the greatest gift they can give this holiday season.
  In Cleveland, one of the food distribution centers is Cooley Avenue 
Church of God. There, Pastor Richard Bolls hands out food to an elderly 
man, Norm. Of the food bank, Norm says:

       At the end of the month I have just $19 left after paying 
     for my rent, my utilities, and my medicine. Normally I 
     wouldn't get fruit and vegetables to eat. I consider this my 
     ice cream.

  It was 28 degrees and windy in Cleveland on Tuesday, colder today. At 
11 o'clock in the morning, Christian, a native of the Mount Pleasant 
area of Cleveland, and her newborn stood in line for food at the 
Cleveland Food Bank, recognized as the No. 1 food bank in the country 
recently. Christian is a trained nurse's assistant. She has been 
searching for a job for 6 months since she had her baby, without luck. 
She notices the price of food she buys at the supermarket seems to rise 
every day. with the cost of caring for a newborn and the rise in food 
and fuel prices--heating and gasoline--Christian stood in line at the 
food bank Tuesday because she cannot afford to feed her family without 
some additional help.
  Christian and Norm have heartbreaking stories, but their stories are 
not unique. More Americans are lining up at food banks this year. Most 
are working Ohioans and working people. Many are middle-class 
Americans, teetering on the edge. Additional funding for the emergency 
food stamp program is the most immediate Federal solution to the 
national food crisis.
  This food bank crisis underscores the need to pass the farm bill. The 
farm bill is an agriculture bill, it is a hunger bill, it is an energy 
bill, it is a conservation bill. I applaud Chairman Tom Harkin, the 
Senator from Iowa, for his leadership on this bill. This farm bill 
helps family farmers in Ohio and across the country by strengthening 
the farm safety net. For the first time ever, farmers will be able to 
enroll in a program that ensures against revenue instability, which for 
many farmers means either a bad yield or low prices. But either can be 
devastating.
  With the right resources and the right incentives, farmers can help 
decrease our dependence on foreign oil and produce clean, sustainable, 
renewable energy.
  This bill, the farm bill which we hope to pass before we leave this 
month, increases food stamp benefits and indexes the benefits to 
inflation. When the purchasing power of food stamps erodes, so does our 
progress against hunger. Food stamps today amount to about $1 per 
person per meal. A mother with two children gets about $9 in food 
stamps. That is the extent of the benefit. This farm bill, bipartisanly 
agreed to, will increase that.
  We are the wealthiest country in the world, a caring and 
compassionate people. Families in our country, especially families who 
work hard and play by the rules, should never, ever go hungry.

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