[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 40 (Friday, March 6, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SUPPORT THE McGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, there are over 900 million people on 
this planet who are hungry. Over 300 million of them are children. Of 
those children, about half do not go to school.
  What we have learned over the years is if we introduce a meal in a 
school setting, more kids will go to school and more girls will go to 
school. We have learned that in some of the most volatile parts of the 
world, parents send their kids to schools that preach religious 
intolerance not because they want to have their kids learn that, but 
because they want their kids to eat, and those schools offer a meal.
  Today, Madam Speaker, I and a number of others are sending a letter 
to Secretary Vilsack asking this administration to fully fund the 
George McGovern-Robert Dole International School Feeding Program. It is 
our moral obligation, Madam Speaker, to help feed the world's hungry. 
It is also in our national security interest.
  I hope all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join with me 
in supporting the McGovern-Dole School Feeding Program.

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