Fw: Lincoln Urges Senate to Make Child Nutrition a Priority and PassReauthorization Bill Before Programs Expire
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2010
Contact: Courtney Rowe, (202) 224-2035
Lincoln Urges Senate to Make Child Nutrition a Priority and Pass Reauthorization Bill Before Programs Expire
Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D- Ark., Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor urging the Senate to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 before programs expire on September 30. The bi-partisan legislation would make the most historic investment in child nutrition programs since their inception. The bill is completely paid for.
Below are Lincoln's remarks on the Senate floor as prepared for delivery.
REMARKS OF CHAIRMAN BLANCHE LINCOLN
In the United States Senate on S. 3307,
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
July 27, 2010
"Mr. President, I come to the floor today with a simple request -- I come to the floor to ask for just eight hours of my colleagues' time. Eight hours that will change the face of childhood hunger and obesity in this country and put us on a path to significantly improving the health of the next generation of Americans. Eight hours that will make an historic investment in our most precious gift and the future of this country – our children.
"Mr. President, eight hours for this body to pass the bi-partisan "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act" that will reauthorize our federal child nutrition programs and address two of the greatest threats to the health and security of America's children: hunger and obesity. Earlier this year, working closely with ranking Member Chambliss and the Administration, the Senate Agriculture Committee, which I chair, unanimously approved a bill that makes an historic investment in hunger relief and for the first time mandates that meals provided to our children in schools are healthy.
"We have since been patiently waiting for this critical legislation to see the light of day on the Senate floor. Well, Mr. President, the days of patiently waiting are coming to an end as the September 30th deadline to reauthorize these programs rapidly approaches. That is why I stand here today asking this body to make an investment in our children and dedicate just eight hours of floor time to take up and pass this legislation.
"I don't have to look any further than my home state of Arkansas to see the hunger and obesity crisis at its worst. A recent report by Feeding America found that Arkansas has the highest rate of childhood hunger in the country—at 24.4 percent. That's nearly one out of every four Arkansas children who are unsure when or if their next meal will come.
"Obesity, too, is extremely high among Arkansas children. Roughly one out of five children in Arkansas is considered obese. Research shows that obesity significantly increases the risk for chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, type II diabetes, and even some forms of cancer. We also know obesity comes at a tremendous cost to our health care system-roughly $147 billion per year.
"These statistics are simply unacceptable. There are real children behind these numbers. Real children who can forever be put on a path toward longer, healthier, more productive lives, if we simply dedicate just eight hours to passing this bill.
"The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids act takes tremendous steps toward addressing the obesity crisis, which is necessary if we truly want to improve the health of the next generation. This legislation increases the reimbursement rate for school meals for the first time since 1973.If we want to promote our children's health, we have to feed them healthier meals, and that takes an investment like the one we've made in this bill.
"This bill also for the first time establishes national school nutrition standards to ensure that our children have healthier options available throughout the school day. Too often we hear parents' frustrations about how the healthy habits they are trying to teach their children at home are constantly being undermined by the widespread availability of unhealthy options at school. This bill changes that. Parents can take comfort knowing that foods and snacks available at school through vending machines, school stores, and a la carte lunch lines will all have to meet new, healthier standards that are based on guidelines for healthy diets established by USDA and HHS. This provision compliments the common-sense steps we have already taken in my home state to improve the health of our school environments, and in doing so, brings some Arkansas wisdom to the rest of the country.
"This bill also makes a significant investment in the fight against childhood hunger. It streamlines and takes out duplicative steps in the paperwork process to ensure that hundreds of thousands of children across the country who are eligible for the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs actually participate in them. This bill also recognizes that hunger doesn't stop when the school bell rings. It improves our afterschool and summer feeding programs, ensuring that children in afterschool programs are receiving full, nutritious meals instead of the current snack they receive now.
"This bill is about improving the lives of the next generation. This means ensuring that they are healthy, and it also means not saddling them with a financial burden that they cannot afford. That is why I am proud to say that this bill is completely paid for and will not add one cent to the national debt that will be shouldered by our children. As we work to get this bill signed into law, I will make certain that we pay for it.
"Unfortunately, there is a very real risk we will fail to seize this historic opportunity. As of today we have a maximum of 23 legislative days left before current child nutrition programs expire on September 30th. What many of my colleagues may fail to understand is that a simple extension of these programs will not be enough. If we simply choose to extend current programs, we are locking in the status quo. What's more, each state will lose critical dollars that they would have otherwise received from this bill and it will be our children who pay the price for our inaction.
"Yet, knowing what we stand to lose, I still can't seem to convince enough folks around here how critically important it is for us to pass this bill. Again, all I am asking for is just eight hours. And I will continue to ask and I will continue to come down to the floor of the United States Senate every day until we make this investment in our children.
"We have an opportunity to pass something real, something historic, for our children. We simply need to dedicate eight hours out of our schedule to get this bill done. And I will relentlessly be pursuing my colleagues to accomplish this goal on behalf of our children.
"This is a bill that each and every member of this body can be proud of. It is bipartisan, completely paid for and provides common-sense solutions to addressing childhood hunger and obesity. In unanimously passing this bill, the Senate Agriculture Committee made a commitment to our children. Now I ask that this body help us fulfill this commitment by dedicating just eight hours to passing this historic legislation.
"Is this too much to ask? Can we not dedicate just eight hours to an effort that will change a generation for the better? I know that hard-working parents in Arkansas and across this country don't think it is too much to ask. Mr. President, I will continue my fight to see that this body does right by our kids, passes this legislation, and improves the health of the next generation of Americans.
"I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum."
--30--
posted by Tom Karst @ 4:56 PM
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