[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2112) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Chair, I rise to strongly object to the 
Republican majority's mean-spirited $650 million cut to vulnerable 
women, infants and children. The Republican's Fiscal Year 2012 
Agriculture Appropriations legislation, H.R. 2112, chooses to make this 
drastic reduction to the Women, Infants and Children, WIC, program at a 
time of economic crisis for millions of American families. WIC is a 
proven strategy to guarantee that lower-income expectant and 
breastfeeding mothers and their children up to 5 years of age receive 
nutritious food. In Minnesota alone, 137,000 children rely on WIC 
benefits to keep them healthy and help them grow strong.
  The federal budget is in crisis and Congress must take serious and 
immediate steps to tackle rising federal deficits. Members of Congress 
have a choice about how to reduce the deficit and a choice about who in 
our society will be asked to make the sacrifices. In Fiscal Year 2012, 
the Republicans are proposing uneven sacrifices. The Republican 
majority is choosing to cut $650 million from the women, infants and 
children in our communities who most need assistance while choosing to 
protect nearly $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies for Exxon and other 
large oil companies at a time of record-high gas prices. Up to 350,000 
eligible women and children across the country will be denied access to 
basic nutrition under H.R. 2112.
  I urge my colleagues to reject the cuts to WIC in H.R. 2112.

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