[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 67 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E769-E770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      OBESITY IS A NATIONAL THREAT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 2010

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, today, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson and 
I will deliver a letter to Speaker Pelosi supporting President Obama's 
request for $1 billion per year in additional funding for the Child 
Nutrition Programs. Two hundred nineteen Members of Congress--
Republicans and Democrats--joined together in supporting this historic 
request. The Education and Labor Committee is working on a bill that 
will meet this request, but we must be sure they have the proper 
funding to improve access to and quality of our children's school 
meals. Last week, former Generals Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton wrote 
an Op-Ed on how obesity is now a national security threat. They support 
President Obama's request because it will make our nation healthier and 
safer. The Senate is already working on their bill. Unfortunately, 
their bill is less than half of the President's request. We cannot 
afford to ignore our children's health. A majority of the House 
believes we need a Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that meets 
President Obama's request.
  I include in the Record the bipartisan letter signed by 219 Members 
of Congress and the Op-Ed from the Washington Post authored by Generals 
Shalikashvili and Shelton.

                                                      May 6, 2010.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker, House of Representatives, The Capitol, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Speaker Pelosi, We are writing in strong support of 
     reauthorizing Child Nutrition Programs this year. Under your 
     leadership, this Congress has committed to addressing 
     critical economic and health challenges of a generation. The 
     reauthorization of the child nutrition programs is a crucial 
     legislative component to this effort. President Obama has 
     called for a historic investment in these programs in order 
     to respond to two of the greatest child health challenges of 
     our time, hunger and poor nutrition. Respectfully, we request 
     your leadership in assisting in the identification of 
     possible offsets to support President Obama's call for new 
     investments to properly fund these important anti-hunger and 
     nutrition programs.
       President Obama included a $1 billion increase in funding 
     for the Child Nutrition Programs in both his FY 2010 and FY 
     2011 budgets. This request clearly highlights the importance 
     of and the need to invest in these programs. Nearly one-
     quarter of children today live in households that don't 
     always have enough food to feed the family. Furthermore, 
     families that struggle to have enough food often also 
     struggle to access healthful food. Poverty exacerbates 
     children's risk of unhealthy weight gain, but poor nutrition 
     affects children's health and well-being across all income 
     levels. Today, nearly one-third of all children are 
     overweight or obese. These challenges to children's health 
     are present in every district across the country and are 
     recognized as critical public health concerns.
       No child should have to go hungry and all children should 
     have access to enough food, and the right food, to help them 
     to achieve their potential. The federal child nutrition 
     programs are a critical tool for addressing these challenges. 
     These programs provide children access to nutritious food and 
     meals throughout the year through the National School Lunch 
     program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the 
     Summer Food Service Program. These programs fill in critical 
     gaps for families in poverty as well as those who are 
     struggling in this economy. For some children, the meals 
     provided through the child nutrition programs are the only 
     healthy and nutritious meals they will eat each day.
       Similarly, the Special Supplemental Program for Women, 
     Infants and Children serves a unique role for low-income 
     women and their children by providing nutrition education, 
     supplemental foods and services to address nutritional risk. 
     The evidence demonstrates that this program provides for a 
     healthier start in life for children.
       Today nearly 45 million individuals are served by these 
     programs. While these programs work, there are millions of 
     low-income children who don't have access to these benefits, 
     and more can be done to ensure that these benefits are of 
     high quality, based on current nutrition science. This 
     Congress can continue to improve on their success; however, 
     improving these programs will require a significant 
     investment.
       While we recognize the size of the federal deficit and the 
     need to reduce this deficit, we support proper funding--
     offset and paid for--that allows for critical improvements in 
     access to and the quality of the Child Nutrition Programs. 
     Chairman Miller is working on a reauthorization that will 
     properly marry improved access and nutrition quality to 
     address the priorities outlined in the President's budget. We 
     are committed to working with him on this effort. To support 
     this effort, we are seeking your assistance in identifying 
     offsets to properly fund these improvements.
       Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look 
     forward to working with you further on this important 
     reauthorization.
           Sincerely,
         McGovern; Emerson; Grijalva; Farr; DeGette; Pallone; 
           Stark; Richardson; Snyder; Larsen; Carson; McCollum; 
           Pingree; Hastings (FL); Baldwin; Capps; Polis; Clarke; 
           Fudge; Carnahan;
         Kaptur; Welch; Capuano; Maloney; Ellison; Moore (WI); 
           Loebsack; Delauro; Olver; Norton; McDermott; Holt; 
           Filner; Frank (MA); Green, Al; Lynch; McCarthy (NY); 
           Matsui; Grayson; Watson; Wu;
         Kucinich; Doyle; Tonko; Chu; Tierney; Pastor; DeFazio; 
           Waters; Woolsey; Boccieri; Shea-Porter; Wasserman 
           Schultz; Hinchey; Schakowsky; Foster; Blumenauer; 
           Quigley; Rush; Towns; Clay;
         Lee (CA); Hinojosa; Serrano; Brady (PA); Bordallo; 
           Waxman; Michaud; McMahon; Jackson, Jr.; Hill; Doggett; 
           Sires; Oberstar; Titus; Tsongas; Markey (MA); Neal; 
           Sablan; Castor; Bishop (GA);
         Gonzalez; Courtney; Wolf; Boucher; Sutton; Cuellar; 
           Braley; Souder; Faleomavaega; Dahlkemper; Brown, 
           Corrine; Ortiz; Reyes; Bishop (NY); Israel; Scott (VA); 
           Conyers; Sanchez, Linda; Van Hollen; Pierluisi;
         Schiff; Heinrich; Delahunt; Johnson, Eddie Bernice; 
           Dingell; Davis (IL); Peters; Fattah; Green, Gene; 
           Rodriguez; Davis (CA); Rothman; Cummings; Payne; Lewis 
           (GA); Yarmuth; Herseth Sandlin; Owens; Kind; Weiner;
         Berman; Nadler; Rahall; Edwards (MD); Lofgren; Paulsen; 
           Gutierrez; Teague; Speier; Harman; Slaughter; Schauer; 
           Hirono; Moore (KS); Scott (GA); Cao; Kennedy; Watt; 
           Marshall; Kildee;
         Berkley; Garamendi; Moran (VA); Thompson (MS); Sarbanes; 
           Higgins; Sestak; Hare; Andrews; Melancon; Jackson Lee; 
           Kilroy;
         Velazquez; Boswell; Roybal-Allard; Young (AK); Halvorson; 
           Cohen; Butterfield; Cleaver;
         Kilpatrick; Napolitano; Hall (NY); Honda; Arcuri; 
           Altmire; Langevin; Lujan; Lowey; Eshoo; Pascrell; 
           Ackerman; Christensen; Schwartz; Johnson (GA); Kagen; 
           Connolly; Crowley; Ryan (OH); Perlmutter;
         Markey (CO); Engel; Rangel; Kratovil; Space; Calvert; 
           Putnam; Hodes; Barrow; Meeks; Stupak; Meek; Etheridge; 
           Price (NC); Salazar; Schrader; Boren; Murphy (CT); 
           Davis (AL); Visclosky;
         Lipinski, Sherman; Berry; Costello; Maffei; Murphy (NY); 
           Deutch; Inslee; Ruppersberger; Matheson; McIntyre; 
           Kissell; Sanchez, Loretta; Schmidt; Driehaus; Wilson 
           (OH); Dicks; Himes.
                                  ____


               [From The Washington Post, Apr. 30, 2010]

              The Latest National Security Threat: Obesity

              (By John M. Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton)

       Are we becoming a nation too fat to defend ourselves?
       It seems incredible, but these are the facts: As of 2005, 
     at least 9 million young adults--27 percent of all Americans 
     ages 17 to 24--were too overweight to serve in the military, 
     according to the Army's analysis of national data. And since 
     then, these high numbers have remained largely unchanged.
       Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     show obesity rates among young adults increasing dramatically 
     nationwide. From 1998 to 2008, the number of states reporting 
     that 40 percent or more of young adults are overweight or 
     obese has risen from one to 39.
       While other significant factors can keep our youth from 
     joining the military--such as lacking a high school diploma 
     or having a serious criminal record--being overweight or 
     obese has become the leading medical reason recruits are 
     rejected for military service. Since 1995, the proportion of 
     potential recruits who failed their physical exams because of 
     weight issues has increased nearly 70 percent, according to 
     data reported by the Division of Preventive Medicine at the 
     Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
       We consider this problem so serious from a national 
     security perspective that we have joined more than 130 other 
     retired generals, admirals and senior military leaders in 
     calling on Congress to pass new child nutrition legislation.

[[Page E770]]

       What children eat and drink during school hours constitutes 
     as much as 40 percent of their daily nutrient intake. 
     Properly managed, the school environment can be instrumental 
     in fostering healthful eating habits among our children.
       Researchers from Rice University and the University of 
     Houston noted in the journal Health Affairs in March that 
     increasing participation in federal nutrition programs ``may 
     be the most effective tool to use in combating obesity in 
     poor children.''
       As a nation, we need to take the next step. Our school 
     districts need the resources to offer our children more 
     vegetables, fruits and whole grains as well as products with 
     less sugar, sodium, fat and calories in school cafeterias and 
     vending machines. Yes, this will mean increasing funding for 
     child nutrition programs. But with our nation spending at 
     least $75 billion a year on medical expenses related to 
     obesity, we think these steps will pay off over the long 
     term.
       We urge Congress to pass a robust child nutrition bill that 
     would:
       Get the junk food and remaining high-calorie beverages out 
     of our schools by adopting new standards, based on the latest 
     research, for foods and drinks sold or served in our schools. 
     Standards for school meals are 15 years old. Clearly, they 
     need to be upgraded.
       Support the administration's proposal of an increase of $1 
     billion per year for 10 years for child nutrition programs 
     that would improve nutrition standards, upgrade the quality 
     of meals served in schools and enable more children to have 
     access to these programs.
       Develop research-based strategies, implemented through our 
     schools, that help parents and children adopt healthier 
     lifelong eating and exercise habits.
       Military concerns about the fitness of our children are not 
     new. When the National School Lunch Act was first passed in 
     1946, it was seen as a matter of national security. Many of 
     our military leaders recognized that poor nutrition was a 
     significant factor reducing the pool of qualified candidates 
     for service.
       Our country is facing another serious health crisis. 
     Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the 
     future strength of our military. We must act, as we did after 
     World War II, to ensure that our children can one day defend 
     our country, if need be.

                          ____________________