[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6672]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the importance of the 
National School Breakfast Program and to express my support for the 
resolution by the gentlelady from Wisconsin that we passed this 
evening.
  The 100 percent Federally funded school breakfast programs, 
particularly where breakfast is served in the classroom, have shown to 
increase student attentiveness, academic performance, and decrease 
tardiness and disciplinary referrals.
  Classroom breakfast programs are important because they reduce the 
stigma of receiving free or reduced price breakfasts and increase 
participation in school breakfast programs. In my district, the Troy 
City School District has adopted a grab-and-go program where kids can 
get their breakfast right in their hallways and bring it into the 
classroom to eat with their peers. These schools, particularly School 
2, 12 and 14, and the Carroll Hill School, have all seen their 
breakfast participation numbers rise to 50 to 60 percent of all 
students in their schools, where the average elsewhere in New York 
State is only 20 percent.
  I hope that we can do around the country what Troy City School 
District has done in my congressional district. In these tough economic 
times, we need to ensure that more students are taking advantage of 
school breakfast programs, and breakfast in the classroom has been 
shown to do just that.

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