[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 192 (Friday, December 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15641-S15642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HUNGER PROVISIONS IN THE FARM BILL

  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, there has been a great deal of debate 
regarding many aspects of the farm bill; but, there is one issue that 
has received relatively little attention on the Senate floor, yet it is 
one of the most important matters facing our country. That issue is 
hunger, and it affects 1 in 10 U.S. households, including nearly 1 
million of North Carolina's 8.8 million residents.
  Fortunately, the farm bill we have just passed contains a number of 
provisions that will support efforts to help the hungry. Take for 
example, the Food Employment Empowerment and Development Act, or the 
FEED Act, which Senator Lautenberg and I have worked on together. I am 
very pleased that this measure has been included in the managers 
package. The FEED Act helps fight hunger by combining food rescue with 
job training, thus teaching unemployed and homeless adults the skills 
needed to work in the food service industry. This provision will 
provide much-needed resources to community kitchens around the country.
  Successful FEED-type programs already exist. For example, in 
Charlotte,

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NC, the Community Culinary School, which I visited last month, recruits 
students from social service agencies, homeless shelters, halfway 
houses and work release programs. Just around the corner from the U.S. 
Capitol, students are hard at work in the DC Central Kitchen's culinary 
job training class. This is a model program, which began in 1990, and 
it is always a privilege for me to go over to the Kitchen and meet with 
folks who have faced great adversity but are now on track for a 
meaningful career. Earlier this year, I visited on their graduation 
day, and the graduates were so excited they were dancing in the 
kitchen. They were ready to start good jobs.
  Of course, for the DC Central Kitchen, Charlotte Community Culinary 
School and other hunger relief organizations to carry out their 
mission, they must have food. To this end, I am very pleased that 
Senator Grassley and Senator Lugar have joined me as co-sponsors of my 
food donation amendment included in the managers package. My thanks to 
Chairman Baucus, and a special thank you to Ranking Member Grassley, as 
well as their staffs, for working with me in this effort. My amendment 
addresses four tax issues that will encourage food donations and 
volunteering to help the hungry.
  First, my amendment extends a provision from the Pension Protection 
Act that allows any taxpayer to claim an enhanced deduction for 
donations of food. This deduction is set to expire at the end of the 
year; my amendment extends it for 2 additional years.
  Second, my amendment allows restaurants to qualify for this 
deduction. Unfortunately, a drafting error excluded most restaurants 
from utilizing this deduction due to their tax structure. My amendment 
corrects this problem and provides restaurants with an extra incentive 
to donate food for hunger relief.
  Third, it simplifies the rules that allow farmers and ranchers to 
take advantage of this deduction for donating their products.
  Finally, my amendment allows volunteers to receive a tax deduction 
for mileage incurred while transporting food donations. As a former 
President of the American Red Cross, I know first hand the importance 
of volunteers--there would be no Red Cross without the 1.3 million 
volunteers--and I understand that many charities, like Meals on Wheels, 
depend on volunteers using their personal vehicles to deliver food to 
countless tables across the country.
  In addition, volunteers who glean and transport food could benefit 
from this tax deduction measure. Excess crops that would otherwise be 
plowed under or thrown out are taken from farms and other entities and 
distributed to the needy. In the Old Testament, in the book of Ruth, we 
learn that she gleaned in the fields so that her family could eat.
  Each year in this country, 96 billion pounds of good, nutritious food 
is left over or thrown away. Gleaning helps eliminate this waste. I 
have gleaned a number of times with an organization called the Society 
of St. Andrew, the latest being sweet potatoes in Harnett County, NC, 
in October.
  While I have a number of concerns about the farm bill and its impact 
on North Carolina agriculture, I welcome this bill's hunger and 
nutrition focus. Especially at this beautiful season of giving and 
thanksgiving we should remember our 35 million fellow Americans who are 
struggling just to have enough to eat. The bill's provisions will help 
us keep up the fight in the battle against hunger. This is a campaign 
that cannot be won in months, or even a few years, but with a caring 
Government and a caring people working together, ending hunger in 
America is certainly a victory within reach.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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