[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                      ADDRESSING CHILDHOOD OBESITY

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, Members of Congress, as Congress goes into 
the Thanksgiving holiday, we are going to be deliberating what we can 
do to help our Nation avoid the perilous financial condition we're 
headed towards. I have a suggestion that in a small way can make a 
contribution towards saving billions of dollars.
  Everyone here knows the problem we have with childhood obesity in 
America. Childhood obesity is at an epidemic level. We all know young 
people who have consumed various types of food that has left them in a 
condition that is unhealthy. And yet did you know that we are actually 
giving tax deductions out to big companies that go ahead and advertise 
and market products that contribute to childhood obesity? So what I'm 
doing is introducing a bill right now that would protect children's 
health by denying any deduction for advertising and marketing that's 
directed at children to promote the consumption of food at fast-food 
restaurants or of any kind of food that's of poor nutritional quality.
  In this way, if this bill becomes law, or if it is adopted in the 
negotiations to try to avoid the fiscal cliff, we can find a way to not 
only reduce childhood obesity by blocking these deductions for the 
advertising, but we can also enable our children's health to be put on 
a better path and our country's health to be put on a better path.

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