[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 161 (Wednesday, December 8, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8112-H8114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WEEKENDS WITHOUT HUNGER ACT

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5012) to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
to establish a weekend and holiday feeding program to provide 
nutritious food to at-risk school children on weekends and during 
extended school holidays during the school year, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5012

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Weekends Without Hunger 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS WITHOUT HUNGER.

       Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(j) Weekends and Holidays Without Hunger.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) At-risk school child.--The term `at-risk school 
     child' has the meaning given the term in section 17(r)(1).
       ``(B) Eligible institution.--
       ``(i) In general.--The term `eligible institution' means a 
     public or private nonprofit institution that is determined by 
     the Secretary to be able to meet safe food storage, handling, 
     and delivery standards established by the Secretary.
       ``(ii) Inclusions.--The term `eligible institution' 
     includes--

       ``(I) an elementary or secondary school or school food 
     service authority;
       ``(II) a food bank or food pantry;
       ``(III) a homeless shelter; and
       ``(IV) such other type of emergency feeding agency as is 
     approved by the Secretary.

       ``(2) Establishment.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations provided in advance in an appropriations Act 
     specifically for the purpose of carrying out this subsection, 
     the Secretary shall establish a program under which the 
     Secretary shall provide commodities, on a competitive basis, 
     to eligible institutions to provide nutritious food to at-
     risk children on weekends and during extended school holidays 
     during the school year.
       ``(3) Eligibility.--
       ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive commodities 
     under this subsection, an eligible institution shall submit 
     an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 
     and containing such information as the Secretary may 
     determine.
       ``(B) Plan.--An application under subparagraph (A) shall 
     include the plan of the eligible institution for the 
     distribution of nutritious foods to at-risk school children, 
     including--
       ``(i) methods of food service delivery to at-risk school 
     children;
       ``(ii) assurances that children receiving foods under the 
     project will not be publicly separated or overtly identified;
       ``(iii) lists of the types of food to be provided under the 
     project and provisions to ensure food quality and safety;
       ``(iv) information on the number of at-risk school children 
     to be served and the per-child cost of providing the children 
     with food; and
       ``(v) such other information as the Secretary determines to 
     be necessary to assist the Secretary in evaluating projects 
     that receive commodities under this subsection.
       ``(4) Priority.--In selecting applications under this 
     subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 
     institutions that--
       ``(A) have on-going programs and experience serving 
     populations with significant proportions of at-risk school 
     children;
       ``(B) have a good record of experience in food delivery and 
     food safety systems;
       ``(C) maintain high quality control, accountability, and 
     recordkeeping standards;
       ``(D) provide children with readily consumable food of high 
     nutrient content and quality;
       ``(E) demonstrate cost efficiencies and the potential for 
     obtaining supplemental funding from non-Federal sources to 
     carry out projects; and
       ``(F) demonstrate the ability to continue projects for the 
     full approved term of the pilot project period.
       ``(5) Guidelines.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall issue guidelines 
     containing the criteria for projects to receive commodities 
     under this section.
       ``(B) Inclusions.--The guidelines shall, to the maximum 
     extent practicable within the funds available and 
     applications submitted, take into account--
       ``(i) geographical variations in project locations to 
     include qualifying projects in rural, urban, and suburban 
     areas with high proportions of families with at-risk school 
     children;
       ``(ii) different types of projects that offer nutritious 
     foods on weekends and during school holidays to at-risk 
     school children; and
       ``(iii) institutional capacity to collect, maintain, and 
     provide statistically valid information necessary for the 
     Secretary--

       ``(I) to analyze and evaluate the results of the pilot 
     project; and
       ``(II) to make recommendations to Congress.

       ``(6) Evaluation.--
       ``(A) Interim evaluation.--Not later than November 30, 
     2013, the Secretary shall complete an interim evaluation of 
     the pilot program carried out under this subsection.
       ``(B) Final report.--Not later than December 31, 2015, the 
     Secretary shall submit to Congress a final report that 
     contains--
       ``(i) an evaluation of the pilot program carried out under 
     this subsection; and
       ``(ii) any recommendations of the Secretary for legislative 
     action.
       ``(7) Funding.--
       ``(A) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as are 
     necessary, to remain available until expended.
       ``(B) Availability of funds.--Not more than 3 percent of 
     the funds made available under subparagraph (A) may be used 
     by the Secretary for expenses associated with review of the 
     operations and evaluation of the projects carried out under 
     this subsection.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from the 
Northern Mariana Islands (Mr. Sablan) and the gentleman from Kentucky 
(Mr. Guthrie) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which 
Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H.R. 
5012 into the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SABLAN. I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5012, the Weekends 
Without Hunger Act, legislation to help us prevent school-aged children 
from having to go hungry during weekends and breaks when they are not 
in school.
  The Weekends Without Hunger Act helps prevent children from going 
hungry when they are not in school. The bill responds to the growing 
challenge of children coming to school hungry on Mondays and after 
extended holidays. It establishes a 5-year pilot program to provide 
commodities to schools and food banks in low-income areas, to provide 
nutritious food to at-risk school children to take home on weekends and 
during school holidays.
  Nearly one in four of our Nation's children are at risk of going 
hungry every day. No child should go hungry, yet millions of families 
struggle to make ends meet and put healthy food on the table at home.
  More than 19 million school-age children eat a free or reduced-price 
meal at school every day and many of them depend on the school meals as 
their main source of food throughout the week. During days that school 
is in session, school breakfasts and lunches help keep children healthy 
and prepared to learn in the classroom. Children who experience hunger 
get sick more often and exhibit decreased attention and test scores.
  Even with the child nutrition safety net already in place, there is 
still a significant gap in children's access to nutrition during 
weekends and breaks from school. For many children, this gap means 
going without nutritious meals--or any meals at all over the weekend 
and when school is out.
  The organization Feeding America has been at the forefront of public-
private partnerships to ensure children and families have access to 
healthy meals. Their BackPack Program is one in a number of innovative 
programs they operate to meet the needs of families who experience 
hunger.
  This program provides backpacks filled with nutritious food that is 
child friendly, nonperishable and easily consumed. These backpacks are 
discreetly distributed to children on the last day before the weekend 
or holiday vacation. Currently, more than 3,800 BackPack Programs serve 
nearly 190,000 children in 46 States and the District of Columbia.

[[Page H8113]]

  The BackPack Program has been very successful and in much demand. 
Many programs have begun waiting lists because they are unable to 
fulfill every request for service.
  Earlier this year, the Committee on Education and Labor reported the 
bipartisan bill improving nutrition for America's Children Act, H.R. 
5504, to the House by a vote of 32-13. The Weekends Without Hunger 
provision was included in this bill.
  Last week, the House approved S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids 
Act, to reauthorize and improve the child nutrition programs to 
increase children's access to these critical programs and to improve 
nutrition quality. While we were unable to include H.R. 5012 in that 
bill, the committee strongly believes this initiative deserves 
consideration and supplements what was included in the Healthy, Hunger-
Free Kids Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Titus for her leadership 
in bringing this bill to the floor and once again express my support 
for H.R. 5012, the Weekends Without Hunger Act.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5012. To refresh my colleagues' 
memories, just last week the House sent the reauthorization of child 
nutrition and school meal programs to the President for his signature. 
That bill spent an additional $4.5 billion and added more than a dozen 
new programs. It was a significant expansion of Federal child nutrition 
programs at a time when the American people have told us to stop 
growing government and, instead, to make current programs better rather 
than simply layering on new programs.
  Every Member of this Chamber wants to fight childhood hunger and 
promote healthy school meals, but adding one more program in a long 
line of new programs is not the way to do that. We could have debated 
this bill, along with several other proposals, during floor 
consideration of child nutrition legislation last week, if only this 
majority did not insist on stifling debate with closed rules.
  Unfortunately, just like the responsible Republican alternative, this 
program was not considered at the time it should have been during that 
debate. Instead, we are here today debating whether to add yet another 
program to the ever-expanding Federal Government under this majority. 
This is another new program to add to the list of new programs created 
just last week.
  The Federal Government supports numerous programs to feed children in 
school, after school and during the summer. If the majority did not see 
fit to include this new program when it reauthorized child nutrition 
programs last week, I do not see how we can justify its creation today 
and urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Titus).
  Ms. TITUS. I rise today in support of H.R. 5012, the Weekends Without 
Hunger Act.
  Last week the House passed a child nutrition bill that takes 
important steps towards keeping our children healthy and hunger free 
while in school. This is a goal I strongly support, and that's why I 
introduced the legislation called Weekends Without Hunger Act, which 
would help children not be hungry whether or not they are in school.
  Across the country, almost one out of every four children is at risk 
of going hungry. In southern Nevada, over 50 percent of children rely 
on the free and reduced lunch program. That means that more than 
156,000 students are facing hunger at home and many depend on school 
meals as their main source of food and nutrition throughout the week.
  While school meals help keep children healthy and ready to learn 
during days when school is in session, there is currently no targeted 
federal child nutrition program available to provide these children 
with food during the weekend or extended holidays when they do not have 
access to those school meals.
  Especially at this time of year when most of us are having holiday 
meals with our families and friends, it's important to remember so many 
children are not enjoying their school vacation because they are going 
hungry. A vacation from school should not mean hunger for our children.
  Food banks around the country, including ThreeSquare food bank in Las 
Vegas, has stepped up to meet the challenge of hunger on weekends 
through programs such as Backpack for Kids. In Clark County, Backpack 
for Kids operates in 178 schools, assembling and delivering 
approximately 5,200 weekend backpacks each week filled with 
nutritional, nonperishable foods to provide meals for children in need.
  I believe that at the Federal level, we can and should be doing more 
to support vital programs like Backpack for Kids. That's why I 
introduced Weekends Without Hunger, which will help children and keep 
them from going hungry when they are not in school over the weekends 
and during holidays.
  In this tough economic climate, food banks across the country are 
seeing an increased need for their services. That's especially true in 
areas hardest hit by unemployment.
  While these organizations are doing great work, passing H.R. 5012 
would build on their efforts and help them do even better. It would be 
a great partnership.

                              {time}  1300

  H.R. 5012 would establish a 5-year pilot program to provide 
commodities to eligible institutions such as schools and food banks to 
provide nutritious food to at-risk school children over the weekend and 
during school holidays. For example, $10 million would be enough 
funding for approximately 3 million weekend food backpacks. To ensure 
that the Federal funds are well spent, the bill also requires an 
interim and final evaluation of the program by the Secretary of 
Agriculture.
  I urge you all to support H.R. 5012, Weekends Without Hunger. As this 
Congress moves to give tax breaks to millionaires, I implore you not to 
forget the children. It is a disgrace that in a country this great and 
this wealthy that any child should go home and go to bed hungry. So I 
ask you to vote for this bill, or else go look a hungry child in the 
eye and tell him or her, You're just not valuable enough to save.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5012, the 
Weekends Without Hunger Act. I want to personally and forcefully thank 
Congresswoman Dina Titus for introducing this important piece of 
legislation.
  Congresswoman Titus and I share southern Nevada as our adjoining 
congressional districts. Let me tell you what's happening there. We 
have a serious economic problem. Almost 20 percent of the people I 
represent have no work. That translates and transfers down to their 
children, who are having very serious times, as are their parents.
  For so many children in the Clark County School District, the only 
meals they are getting, the only hot meals they are getting, the only 
meals and nutrition of any kind, are the ones they are receiving in 
school. So, many of the schools in Clark County are now not only 
serving a lunch to their schoolchildren, they are also serving 
breakfast as well. So many of our youngsters are showing up at school 
with an empty stomach because they have nothing to eat at home. Try 
learning when you're 5, 6, 7, 8 years old, when your tummy is grumbling 
as you sit in your class. It's not possible to do.
  I attended a school, Whitney Elementary School, and went into one of 
the trailers that the principal escorted me to. It was filled with 
food. And I commented, Why is there so much food in this trailer? And 
she told me 70 percent--let me say that again--70 percent of the 
children in this elementary school are homeless. They are living on the 
streets with their parents. They are living in cars. They do not have a 
stable home. If they don't have a stable home, I'll bet you dollars to 
doughnuts that they haven't got anything to eat.
  This program, this pilot program that Congresswoman Dina Titus has 
introduced, would provide a 5-year pilot that would provide commodities 
to eligible institutions, such as schools and food banks, to carry out 
projects

[[Page H8114]]

that provide nutritious food to at-risk schoolchildren over the weekend 
and school holidays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. SABLAN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.
  Ms. BERKLEY. It is incomprehensible to me that in a country of such 
wealth and great abundance that we have literally hundreds of 
thousands, if not millions, of children going to bed hungry and having 
to depend on their schools in order to get anything to eat. This school 
backpack program that provides children with food to take home over the 
weekend is going to be the difference between their survival and not. I 
cannot tell you how much I admire Dina Titus for introducing this. I 
wish I'd thought of it myself.
  Let us pass this bill, and let's pass it fast.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 5012, the Weekends Without Hunger 
Act. I want to thank Congresswoman Titus for introducing this important 
piece of legislation.
  Across the country, almost one out of every four children is at risk 
of going hungry. Many of these children depend on school meals as their 
main source of food throughout the week. While school meals help 
provide low-income children with nourishing meals when school is in 
session, there is currently no targeted federal child nutrition program 
available to provide these children with food during the weekend or 
extended holidays when they do not have access to school meals.
  In my home State of Nevada, Three Square Food Bank has been 
addressing weekend hunger since 2008 with its Backpacks for Kids 
program. The program provides a bag of kid-friendly, shelf-stable foods 
to children who lack adequate food over the weekend. Every week during 
the 2009-10 school-year, Three Square provided weekend bags to more 
than 4,800 at-risk children in 187 Clark County schools, both public 
and private.
  Congresswoman Titus' bill builds on the important work that food 
banks and others are doing across the country. This legislation would 
establish a five-year pilot program that would provide commodities to 
eligible institutions, such as schools and food banks, to carry out 
projects that provide nutritious food to at-risk school children over 
the weekend and school holidays during the school year.
  It is vital that Congress continue to make investments to increase 
low-income children's access to nutrition programs, especially during 
weekends and summers.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5012, the 
``Weekends Without Hunger Act.'' This important legislation will amend 
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to ensure that low 
income children who rely on school meal programs during the week have 
access to meals on weekends and long school holidays. By filling these 
gap periods, this bill will ensure that children return to school 
healthy and equipped with the necessary levels of nutrition to learn on 
Monday mornings.
  Last week, the House successfully passed a reauthorization of the 
child nutrition programs which improves nutrition and access to school 
meals. However, that legislation does not provide meals for our 
children when they are out of school. Far too many children suffer from 
food shortages and lack of nutritional meals at home during weekends 
and school holidays. Food insecurity is steadily rising. Although food 
banks and community providers successfully operate weekend meal 
programs for low income children, their funding is insufficient to 
sustain an increase in demand. I believe that our country will 
eventually recover from these tough economic times. Until then, we are 
obligated to provide for our children. Therefore, it is necessary that 
we supply funding to local existing efforts that provide these 
nutritional weekend or school break meals and expand these programs in 
more communities. We must make every effort to ensure that that no 
child goes hungry when they are out of school. I therefore urge my 
colleagues to support the bill.
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my fellow members of Congress to vote 
for H.R. 5012, the Weekends Without Hunger Act, and support the 
millions of children facing food insecurity. The bill directs the 
Secretary of Agriculture to implement a five-year pilot program to 
provide food commodities to nonprofits, which would, in turn, 
distribute those goods to children in need before weekends and extended 
holidays. In short, this program ensures that children do not go hungry 
when they are not in school.
  This pilot program is modeled from the successful Food for Kids 
program developed by the nonprofit Arkansas Rice Depot. The concept for 
the program originated when a school nurse asked for help because she 
began seeing hungry students with stomachaches and dizziness. The local 
food bank began to send school children home with groceries in non-
descript backpacks. In 2009, more than 140 Feeding America member food 
banks operated more than 3,600 BackPack for Kids Programs and served 
more than 190,000 children.
  In my hometown, the Cleveland Foodbank adopted the program, BackPack 
for Kids, in 2005. Each week, food bank volunteers pack six wholesome, 
child friendly meals per student into plastic bags, and then cases are 
delivered to partner sites. The Foodbank protects kids' confidentiality 
by packaging the food in unmarked, non-descript backpacks. This 
approach is having a profound effect. In 2009, the Cleveland Foodbank 
distributed 45,666 backpacks to many of the 3,036 homeless children who 
live in Ohio's Eleventh Congressional District as well as other 
children whose families are in tough financial times. The Cleveland 
Foodbank is touching thousands of families and impacting the 
educational success of thousands of children in Northeast Ohio through 
the BackPack for Kids program. It is doing phenomenal work.
  Imagine how many more children could be served through this commodity 
program. I implore the House to pass the Weekends Without Hunger Act 
because kids in need are guilty of nothing more than being born to low-
income parents for which they should not be punished. In Cuyahoga 
County, 32 percent of children rely on food stamps to eat. Allowing any 
of these kids in my district to go hungry is simply unacceptable. The 
fact is they face a particularly high risk of hunger when they are not 
being fed through existing school programs. This bill presents a unique 
opportunity to help the neediest of children by giving them the 
security of knowing where their next meal will come from, a sentiment 
so basic that many of us take it for granted.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask for support on H.R. 5012, as amended, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Costa). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands (Mr. Sablan) 
that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5012, as 
amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``To amend the 
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a weekend and 
holiday feeding program to provide nutritious food to at-risk school 
children on weekends and during extended school holidays during the 
school year.''
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________