[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7008-S7009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Casey):
  S. 1343. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to improve and expand direct certification procedures for the 
national school lunch and school breakfast programs, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, every day during the school year, some 
700,000 Ohio children are eligible to receive a free or reduced-price 
lunch at their school. Every day during the school year, these meals 
could ensure that children get enough to eat, particularly those 
children who are from homes where they don't get enough to eat, and it 
would ensure that children receive the good-quality, nutritious food 
they need. Yet today only about 86 percent of eligible children in Ohio 
receive a free school breakfast, a free school lunch, or a reduced-
price breakfast or lunch. Only 86 percent of those eligible do. That 
means 1 in 10 Ohio children goes without a meal every day at school 
unnecessarily. Thus, tens of thousands of children from large urban 
districts in Cleveland and Cincinnati and Toledo to rural districts in 
Appalachia, children in small towns and medium towns all over the State 
and all over the country don't receive a healthy meal at school. Mr. 
President, about 150,000 children eligible at school for free or 
reduced-price lunch or breakfast don't get the meals at school that 
they are eligible for, and it is unacceptable. We can do something 
about it.
  The application process for free lunch and breakfast is antiquated--
stuck in a low-tech, old-fashioned, file-cabinet kind of system. The 
current paper application process doesn't reflect today's school 
districts. It doesn't adjust to changing demographics. It doesn't take 
advantage of the tremendous advancements in technology our society 
enjoys generally. That is why I will be introducing today the Hunger 
Free Schools Act, along with Senators Casey and Bennet, that would 
dramatically reduce the number of paper applications for the free 
school lunch program. This legislation will directly enroll an 
estimated 100,000 Ohio children and thousands of children around the 
Nation in the National School Lunch Program. The Hunger Free Schools 
Act would modernize the application system for free school meals. The 
Hunger Free Schools Act would ensure that the system functions the way 
it was actually designed to work.
  By increasing the number of children who receive nutritional school 
meals, we can help them receive a better education. Just think of 
children who sit in schools--small children, children of middle-school 
age, children in high school, but particularly small children--with 
their stomachs growling. They haven't really had breakfast or they 
haven't had a nutritious breakfast. Children who think so much about 
their hunger rather than their school work, children who by afternoon 
feel weak because they haven't had the calories and nutrition they 
need, this bill could do something about this. By increasing the number 
of healthy children, we will be more effective in lowering rates of 
child obesity and diabetes. It is not just about not getting enough to 
eat, it is also the quality of food they eat if they don't eat in the 
school cafeteria the school breakfast that is provided for them.
  Nationwide, this bill would reduce paperwork and administrative costs 
to make access to meals easier for nearly 7 million children--hundreds 
of thousands of children in the Presiding Officer's home State of 
Illinois and over 100,000 children in my State of Ohio. Reducing 
paperwork and administrative costs saves time for administrators, 
reduces the burden on schools, and makes it a whole lot easier for 
teachers who don't have to think so much about helping their children 
figure out how to get a free school lunch or a free school breakfast.

[[Page S7009]]

  President Obama cited administrative costs as a barrier to ending 
childhood hunger. His goal of eliminating this moral problem by 2015 is 
within reach, in part because of this legislation. More must be done.
  Another way to combat childhood hunger is to make sure more families 
are aware of summer feeding programs.
  Let me give another number. Some 700,000 children in my State are 
eligible for the reduced or free school breakfast and lunch. Of that 
number, about 500,000 actually get free lunch and breakfast. Those same 
students are eligible for the summer feeding program in June, July, and 
August--a program that is in rec centers, churches, parks, and in other 
kinds of buildings sprinkled across our State. Yet only about 60,000, 
or 1 in 10 children who are eligible, partake in the summer feeding 
program. So those children who, every day, get a free breakfast and 
lunch during the school year are also eligible in the summer to get 
free breakfast, lunch, and a free snack. But very few of them actually 
get those breakfasts and lunches or snacks in the summer.
  You can imagine what that does to the chance for those children to 
become obese or to have a lack of nutrition and what all that means. 
The summer feeding program is every bit as important as the school 
breakfast and lunch program. That is why I remind parents and educators 
and guardians that the summer food service program is available to 
provide children a free breakfast, lunch, or snack during summer 
months. I encourage parents, educators, and guardians in Ohio, and 
around the Nation, to find a local summer feeding location.
  I suggest people watching, if they are from my State, to go on my Web 
site, brown.senate.gov. We have roughly 1,000 summer feeding program 
locations on the Web site. People from Ohio can look on there and find 
out where there might be half a dozen sites in Richland County or 
perhaps 5 or 6 locations in Allen County or 25 or so locations in 
Lorain County, where young people can sign up to go to the summer 
feeding program or they can just show up and be fed. Ohioans can also 
find information through the Ohio Department of Education. Other 
Americans should contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has 
a State-by-State breakdown of resources. Students in summer reading 
programs at the public libraries might be eligible for the summer 
feeding program. They should find out from the library or from a music 
program they are part of or anyplace they might go, if they are 
eligible.
  Again, I remind people that if your son or daughter is eligible for 
the school lunch program, they are also eligible for the summer feeding 
program. The end of the school year doesn't mean that we have an end to 
hunger. It means we need to make some people aware of the summer 
feeding program. Coupled with the summer feeding program, this Hunger 
Free Schools Act can ensure that our children reach their full 
potential.
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