[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 169 (Saturday, December 18, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SUPPORTING THE REAUTHORIZATION OF THE CHILD NUTRITION ACT

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                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 17, 2010

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, as we close this year, I wish 
to voice my support for the advancements we made to the Child Nutrition 
Act this month. S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, 
which the President signed into law this month, will do much to reduce 
child hunger and obesity.
  Poverty is a stark reality for far too many people in my 
Congressional District, in Chicago, and in Illinois. In my 
Congressional District, the poverty rate based on 2008 Census data was 
22.6 percent--well above the national average. The child poverty rate 
in 2008 for my District was 34.1 percent, almost double the national 
average. There are three primary child nutrition programs that this 
bill improves: the National School Lunch Program; Women, Infants, and 
Children, WIC, Program; and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. In 
Illinois, there are over 1 million children who benefit from the school 
lunch program, 300,000 who benefit from WIC, and 124,000 who benefit 
from the Child Care Food program. These children will benefit from our 
improvements to the Child Nutrition Act, whether they attend child care 
or school. Further, the state of Illinois will receive approximately 
$11 million more dollars per year to help provide food for these 
children in need.
  In addition to increasing federal reimbursements, I am proud that 
this bill will improve the nutritional quality of children's meals and 
reduce the availability of high-calorie junk food on school grounds. 
These steps will help tremendously to promote health and reduce 
obesity. I am very happy that this bill expands the after-school supper 
program, which is estimated to provide an additional 21 million meals 
to low-income children. I have had many people in Chicago tell me about 
the importance of these programs for children. There also are a number 
of enhancements to improve the programs' management and integrity. For 
example, in high poverty communities, the bill eliminates the 
requirement of paper applications and uses Census data to determine 
school-wide eligibility. It also establishes professional standards for 
food service providers and improves food safety requirements.
  Given the deep need for improvements in the child nutrition law, I 
cast my vote in support of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. 
This said, I wish to voice two disappointments I have with this bill. 
First, although we increased reimbursement rates per meal by 6 cents, 
these new resources are not sufficient to cover the local cost of 
providing the federal free and reduced-priced lunches and breakfasts. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that school districts' 
costs of providing free lunches exceeds the federal reimbursement by 
over 30 cents per meal. In urban areas like Chicago, this loss is much 
closer to 75 cents per meal. Given that over 700,000 students in 
Illinois participate in the low-income school lunch program, the 
financial burden to my school district is great. Subsidizing food so 
that low-income children can eat healthy meals and learn is important; 
I believe that the federal government should provide a greater share of 
the cost for caring for its youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
  Second, I am disappointed that one of the offsets for this bill sent 
to us by the Senate is a reduction in funding for poor families in need 
of federal aid to purchase food. Children and families who receive food 
assistance are some of our most vulnerable citizens. In 2009, 1.46 
million Illinoisans in 677,000 households received food stamps with an 
average per month of about $136 for a total benefit value issued of 
$2.3 billion. There are many poor families in Chicago and Illinois who 
need the full amount of the food benefits. Even if the impact is a few 
years away, I am disappointed that my vote to provide much-needed 
improvements in our child nutrition laws occurs by reducing future 
benefits to the poor. I vow to work actively with my colleagues to 
replace this funding so that no reduction in food assistance comes to 
fruition.

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