[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10739-10740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     CHALLENGE TO SECRETARY SHALALA

  (Mr. HALL of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to respectfully challenge 
Secretary Donna Shalala.
  Madam Secretary, there is something sad out there that I would like 
you to see. At the National Nutrition Summit, you said: ``Except for a 
few isolated pockets, we have succeeded at ending hunger in America.'' 
That is not true.
  According to dozens of American organizations, fighting on poverty's 
front lines, according to respected international organizations, like 
the WHO and UNICEF, according to what I have seen too many times, and I 
am shocked that a cabinet secretary would be so clearly out of touch 
with reality.
  Secretary Shalala, I challenge you to meet me in any American 
community

[[Page 10740]]

at any time for a look at the food banks and soup kitchens filled with 
senior citizens, children, American veterans, and working families.
  Hunger is a fact. It is the underbelly of our booming economy. You 
can choose not to look at it; but it is real, and it is ugly. It 
plagues 26 million of our fellow Americans each year. Please come take 
a look.

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