[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E630-E631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 9, 2009

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
210, Recognizing the importance of the National School Lunch Program 
and commend my colleague, Rep. Gwen Moore for bringing this measure 
before the House.
  This important program provides breakfast to over 8 million children 
through either free or reduced-price meals in approximately 16,000 
schools. With the current economic crisis, working families are facing 
challenges they never expected. Last week, the Department of Labor 
announced the U.S. economy lost 651,000 jobs in February, and the 
unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent, its highest point in since 1983. 
These job losses make it even harder for some families to feed their 
children--so they turn to schools for help. We know that children who 
live in families that experience hunger have been shown to be more 
likely to have lower math scores, face an increased likelihood of 
repeating a grade, and receive more special education services.
  We've learned over the years that making breakfast widely available 
through different venues, such as in the classroom, or as students exit 
their school bus, or outside the classroom, has been shown to diminish 
the stigma of receiving free or reduced-price breakfast, which often 
prevents eligible students from getting a traditional breakfast in 
school cafeterias.
  Providing breakfast in the classroom can improve attentiveness and 
academic performance, while reducing tardiness and disciplinary 
referrals. Students who eat a complete breakfast have been shown to 
make fewer mistakes and work faster in math exercises than those who 
eat a partial breakfast. Students who skip breakfast are more likely to 
have difficulty distinguishing among similar images, show increased 
errors, and have slower memory recall. Studies have shown that access 
to nutritious programs such as the National School Lunch Program and 
National School Breakfast Program helps to create a strong learning 
environment for children and helps to improve children's concentration 
in the classroom.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an incredibly important program with a well-
documented track record of success. I'm pleased to add my voice of 
support for the National School Breakfast Program and I will be working 
with my colleagues to make sure that we provide the resources necessary 
to provide the benefits of this program to every hungry child who needs 
breakfast at school.

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