[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 110 (Tuesday, July 21, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7783-S7784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Durbin, 
        Mr. Begich, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Tester):
  S. 1480. A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish 
a program to improve the health and education of children through 
grants to expand school breakfast programs, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I join with Senator Kohl to 
introduce the Student Breakfast and Education Improvement Act as part 
of my continued efforts to improve student achievement in our Nation's 
schools. One part of student performance that is often overlooked is 
nutrition, which can have a significant impact on student achievement. 
I know many of my colleagues share my support for school programs that 
help alleviate hunger for the most in-need students, such as the Free 
and Reduced Price Lunch Program, as well as those programs that provide 
more nutritious food, such as the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack 
program.
  I am sure that I am not the only member of this body who grew up 
hearing that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I was 
lucky never to have to worry about going hungry, and my parents did not 
have to choose between giving their children lunch or breakfast. The 
fact is, that is a choice many parents do have to make today, even if 
they get the help of reduced price meals. The current economic 
difficulties and rising unemployment have only increased the burdens 
facing low income families in Wisconsin and around the country as they 
struggle to provide nutritious meals for their children.
  The Student Breakfast and Education Improvement Act would provide 
grants for schools wishing to begin or expand universal school 
breakfast programs. Studies show that kids who eat breakfast perform 
better in school and

[[Page S7784]]

on tests, and they tend to be less disruptive to the class. I have 
heard many stories from teachers, school nurses, and other school 
officials over the years to confirm this. In fact, in my home State of 
Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Public Schools have been working with the 
Hunger Task Force for the past few years to implement universal school 
breakfast programs, which they have in place now in more than 80 
schools. This program, which has expanded in its second year, has 
proven popular with students, teachers, and parents.
  This bill would target the most in-need schools--those with 65 
percent or more of students eligible for the free and reduced price 
lunch program--with the funds necessary to implement a universal free 
breakfast program. The grants, which could be used in a number of ways, 
aim to help schools overcome the numerous barriers faced in trying to 
create a school breakfast program.
  Our Nation faces a series of pressing education challenges in its 
schools, including most significantly a large achievement gap and 
graduation rate gap among minority and low income students. After 
decades of civil rights struggles, public education should provide all 
our students with access to equal opportunities, but the quality of 
public education provided to students of color and low-income students 
in urban and rural Wisconsin and around the country still does not come 
close to affording many of these students an equal chance for success. 
Too often these students learn in crumbling and outdated buildings, 
they do not have the same access to high quality technology in their 
classrooms, they are taught by the least experienced teachers, and they 
often do not have adequate access to important resources like school 
counselors and nurses.
  These and a number of other factors contribute to the achievement gap 
in our Nation's schools and the Federal Government can help to address 
this gap by promoting smarter and more flexible accountability 
structures and increased supports for schools during the upcoming 
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Congress 
should also help to address some of the many other issues facing our 
nation's students living in poverty issues that may not seem directly 
related to education, but impact the academic growth of students 
including hunger, affordable housing, and crime. This bill takes an 
important step to address hunger and also seeks to improve nutrition 
education by providing funds to expand school breakfast programs, boost 
collaboration between local farmers and schools, expand service-
learning opportunities in our classrooms, and improve nutrition 
education programming for students.
  In this economy, more and more parents are forced to make these kinds 
of decisions, and the school meal programs can provide a tremendous 
relief. As we look forward to reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act, it 
is vital that we take stock of the successes and limitations of 
existing programs. School breakfast faces a number of hurdles that, 
quite simply, other school feeding programs do not. Chief of those is 
time. For some students, getting to school early is impossible; for 
some, the lure of breakfast is not a strong enough draw to get up 
earlier. These are problems that schools across the country are facing 
and solving with creativity and dedication. This legislation will help 
support the innovative work going on in some of our nation's schools 
and will help to scale up successful nutrition programs in other 
schools so that hopefully one day, none of America's students will 
start the school day hungry.
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