[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       INTERNATIONAL FOOD FOR EDUCATION AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2001

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to join my 
distinguished colleagues, Senators Lugar, Leahy, Harkin, Durbin, and 
others, as well as Representative Jo Ann Emerson and Representative Jim 
McGovern in the House, to speak in favor of the International Food For 
Education and Nutrition Act of 2001.
  Mr. President, former Senators Bob Dole and Senator George McGovern 
developed the concept of this bipartisan bill last year. This 
legislation, which links food to education, is really brilliant in its 
simplicity, by making permanent an existing international school 
nutrition pilot program.
  These two dedicated public servants, Senator Dole and Senator 
McGovern, worked tirelessly in the Senate in years past to feed needy 
children both in this country and around the world. Because of them and 
because of their leadership and their vision, millions and millions of 
children have received nutritious meals and an education. Through their 
efforts, they have given millions of children hope and a future.
  Mr. President, nearly 30 years ago, on this Senate floor, Senator Bob 
Dole and Senator George McGovern formed a bipartisan coalition on 
matters that had to do with agriculture and domestic food assistance. 
They led the way in putting in place an expanded network of food stamps 
for the poor, school lunches and breakfast on a much wider scale, a 
supplementary feeding program for low-income pregnant and nursing 
mothers and their infants, and nutrition guidelines for the American 
people.
  Indeed, Senators Dole and McGovern, through their words and their 
deeds, have demonstrated a deep and enduring commitment to children 
around the globe.
  But there is still more to do--much more. Today, we still cannot 
understate the importance of school feeding programs in impoverished 
countries throughout this world. Currently, there are hundreds of 
millions of children worldwide who are not enrolled in school, in part 
because of hunger or malnourishment. We know if there is food at 
school, children will come, children will attend. The fact is that 
school feeding programs can reach the poorest of the poor, providing 
necessary nutrition to children who often do not receive any other food 
throughout the entire day.
  As a result, these programs have had a substantial and very positive 
impact on school enrollment levels and attendance. More and more 
children are going to school around the world, and more and more 
children are able to learn and become educated. With an education, a 
child has a future.
  There is a very simplistic and important link between food and 
education. My wife, Fran, and I have seen it in our travels to Haiti. 
We have become good friends with Father Hagan--Tom Hagan--an American 
priest who works so very hard with the poorest of the poor in Haiti. 
One of the things that Father Hagan does, and is doing today, is making 
that link between food and education.
  Father Tom waits until after the school year starts and he sees what 
children don't have the money, don't have the ability to enroll in 
school. He waits a couple weeks and then he opens up his school and 
takes those children in from the city of Port au Prince, the Cite 
Soleil, the poorest part of the city, the slum, and provides them with 
education. He not only provides them with education, he provides them 
with what for most of them is the only meal they will receive, the only 
food they will receive all day. So the food serves as sort of a magnet, 
but, at the same time, it gives these young children the nourishment 
they need so they can concentrate and study and they can learn.
  Fran and I have seen it firsthand in Haiti. We have seen it in 
Nicaragua, we have seen it in other countries where people are working 
to make a difference.
  What this bill does is put the Congress and this country on record as 
saying we are committed to doing this around the world. We want to work 
with other countries and the United States to lead by example. We 
cannot do this all ourselves, but we can provide the initial 
leadership.
  The specific initiative we are introducing today advances and expands 
current feeding programs by establishing the International Food for 
Education and Nutrition Program. This new program will enable the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture to use funds from the Commodity Credit 
Corporation to purchase U.S. agricultural commodities for use in global 
school feeding programs. These commodities then would be provided to 
private organizations for distribution in recipient countries 
throughout the world.
  To facilitate enactment of these programs, our bill also would 
provide adequate funds for transportation and distribution costs 
associated with these efforts. It does no good to give food if you 
cannot get it distributed.
  Our legislation stems from the 1-year pilot program I referenced a 
moment ago which Senators Dole and McGovern developed and the previous 
administration launched a year ago. Known as the Global Food for 
Education Initiative, this $300 million pilot program provides 
nutritious meals to children in 38 countries.
  Under the program, 14 private volunteer organizations, together with 
the United Nations World Food Program, are working to provide a free 
breakfast or free lunch to some 7 million schoolchildren in developing 
countries. Our legislation is a perfect complement to the current 
Public Law 480 title II emergency feeding program which helps nourish 
more than 40 million children and adults worldwide.
  Let me highlight just one of the many success stories we have already 
seen with the current pilot program.
  In Cameroon, for example, we are providing nutritious meals to more 
than 50,000 schoolchildren, helping to increase school enrollment by 
over 50 percent and cutting the dropout rate for girls to virtually 
zero. These findings are not unique. We find, for example, similar 
success stories in Vietnam and in Honduras.
  Our bill will continue to build upon the initial success of the pilot 
project, and we will make this program permanent. By making it 
permanent, we can reach even more impoverished children and have a 
lasting, long-term effect on global educational development and work to 
eradicate childhood hunger.
  Furthermore, the investment in international school feeding programs 
not only will help children in developing countries, but it also will, 
of course, benefit our U.S. farmers. The program provides our farmers 
with a steady opportunity to sell the goods they produce. This is 
definitely a win-win situation.
  I look forward to continuing our work on this important initiative, 
and I urge my colleagues to join in support of our legislation.

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