Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4368, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. This bill falls woefully short of adequately investing in important programs and policies that support the American people.
The bill's provisions targeting low-income women, infants, and children are especially concerning. The insufficient funding included in H.R. 4368 jeopardizes access to food and critical services for low and moderate income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children by drastically underfunding the program and undermining science-based WIC food benefits. This is especially concerning as the country continues to face an infant and maternal health crisis.
For over 25 years, there has been a bipartisan commitment to provide sufficient WIC funding to serve all eligible applicants and maintain the longstanding no-waitlist commitment--until now. The House agriculture appropriations bill purports to fund WIC at $6 billion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, but the bill also demands a $500 million rescission in a later section. Realistically, the bill only funds WIC at $5.5 billion. This is $800 million below the President's budget request for FY 2024 ($6.3 billion) and $185 million lower than the level of funding made available in FY 2023 ($5.685 billion).
Last month, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) outlined the need for an additional $1.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2024 funding for WIC due to a significant increase in participation this fiscal year with a total of 6.7 million women, children, and infants being served by the program as of June. OMB has warned that without additional funding, participants could see disruptions in benefits. To prevent any disruption to a program crucial to supporting new parents and young children, it is vital that WIC funding be increased to align with projected participation and food costs as the process moves forward. Under the funding levels included in the House agriculture appropriations bill, up to 600,000 eligible new parents and children-- including 11,600 Virginians could be turned away from the program.
While WIC participation is increasing, this bill also drastically cuts WIC's increased science-backed fruit and vegetable benefits for roughly 1.5 million pregnant and postpartum participants and 3.5 million children aged one to four. The bill reduces the monthly fruit and vegetable benefit from $25 to $11 for child participants, from $44 to $13 for pregnant and postpartum participants, and from $49 to $15 for breastfeeding participants. Current benefit levels ensure that participating women and children have access to recommended levels of fruits and vegetables, thus improving health outcomes and program retention. Pre-pandemic benefits of $8 for children and $11 for pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding participants allowed for less than a one-cup equivalent of fruits and vegetables per day, woefully short of the recommended amounts.
In addition to insufficient funding for WIC, the bill includes other harmful provisions targeting nutrition programs. For example, the bill includes a rider that rejects a pending rule to revise WIC Food Packages. Additional riders reject nutrition standards in both school meals programs as well as the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). These harmful riders weaken the science-based process that determines nutrition standards and criteria in child nutrition and related programs. A dozen health organization and other stakeholders, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the American Public Health Association, the National WIC Association, and UnidosUS implored Congress not to include harmful nutrition-related riders and to maintain and respect the current science-based processes.
In addition to the threats to the health and well-being of women and children, this bill would harm farmers as they recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this legislation strips funding from Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) programs enacted last Congress. Rescinding the IRA funding will harm farmers as they recover losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to divest from food security and those who produce the food and fiber we depend on is short sighted. I am also alarmed by amendments to curtail the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) work to advance equity and inclusion. For far too long, farmers of color, female farmers, and farmers who identify as LGBTQI+ have faced discrimination in farm lending. Restricting the USDA's ability to address these failures is detrimental to achieving the USDA's mission and ensuring food security.
For these reasons and many others, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill.
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