[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 5, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1595-H1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             END HUNGER NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Senate passed the farm bill 
conference report, something the House did almost 2 weeks ago. I want 
to thank my House and Senate colleagues who stood firm and voted 
against the conference report because of the egregious cuts to SNAP, 
formerly known as food stamps. I am especially proud and thankful that 
none of my Massachusetts colleagues voted for the bill. Unfortunately, 
I think many of those who voted for this bill will ultimately come to 
regret their vote.
  Now that the fight over SNAP funding and the farm bill is over, it is 
time to look forward and once again refocus on how we can end hunger 
now. Despite the attacks on the poor that come from the Republican 
leadership in this Congress, there are good things that are happening 
among the antihunger community, and there are opportunities out there 
that we can take advantage of as we work to end hunger now.
  Every day, millions of hungry kids are able to eat a nutritious meal 
because of the school lunch program. In fact, 29 million children in 
more than 98,000 schools and residential child care institutions 
participate in the school lunch program on a typical day. Nearly 20 
million kids receive their lunch at either a reduced price or free.
  The school lunch program is a lifeline for these kids who come from 
poor families. It is not their fault that their parents don't earn 
enough for them to put food on the table. For most of these kids, this 
is the only nutritious meal, and in some cases, the only meal they will 
eat on a weekday. That is why this program is so important.
  Imagine what happens to a child who goes to school hungry. It is 
harder for that child to pay attention in class, leading to difficulty 
learning and also leading to challenges in terms of their development, 
mentally and physically. Kids who go without food are literally at a 
disadvantage to those who are eating healthy meals. They are starting 
from a much worse position, and it is because America decides not to 
help.
  That is changing. Participation in the school lunch program is 
strong, and the good news is that participation in the school breakfast 
program is rising.
  I want to highlight a recent report from the Food Research and Action 
Center, or FRAC, as they are commonly known. FRAC reports that 311,000 
more kids received school breakfast than the previous year.
  We all know how important breakfast is. Our parents all told us to 
eat a healthy breakfast so we can learn and grow. I tell my kids the 
same thing every day, even though they don't always pay attention. The 
school breakfast program is a critical part of ensuring that kids from 
poor families are able to start the day off right; that they don't 
start the school day off hungry, so they can learn properly and they 
can develop.
  Unlike the school lunch program, where the meal is served during the 
school day when kids are already in school, many of these school 
breakfast programs take place before school starts. Because of that 
starting time, millions of kids don't participate in the school 
breakfast program. That is

[[Page H1596]]

why this report from FRAC is so encouraging. Schools are starting to 
offer breakfast free of charge to all children, not just kids who 
qualify based on income. Schools are moving breakfast out of the 
cafeteria and into the classroom after school starts, something that is 
known as Breakfast After the Bell.
  I am pleased that a new Federal program called Community Eligibility, 
a program in seven States that allows high-poverty schools to provide 
free breakfast and lunch to all students without the need for an 
application, is increasing daily breakfast participation. FRAC found 
that daily breakfast participation rose by 5 percent in these seven 
States compared to 2\1/2\ percent in nonparticipating States.
  We can do better, but this is encouraging. Kids who eat healthy, 
nutritious meals do better in school and have fewer problems as they 
grow up. School meals are a critical part of ensuring that kids eat 
properly. School breakfasts are a big part of the equation. FRAC found 
that if all States increased participation so they reached 70 poor kids 
with breakfast for every 100 that ate lunch, 3.8 million children would 
have been added to the breakfast program, and States would have 
received more than $964 million in added Federal nutrition funding in 
2012 and 2013.
  We should be proud of the work that USDA and States and localities 
are doing to increase breakfast participation. As we move towards a 
reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, we must remember these 
important programs and build on them. We must do everything we can to 
end hunger now, and improving on the school breakfast program is just 
one way to do it.
  All of us, Mr. Speaker, both Democrats and Republicans, need to step 
it up in our battle to end hunger. We should all be ashamed that so 
many in our country, including millions of our children, go hungry. 
Sadly, Mr. Speaker, many of the actions that have been taken by this 
Congress have made hunger worse in this country. We are the richest 
country in the history of the world. Surely we can do better. Surely we 
can end hunger now.

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