Recognizing Hunger Awareness Day

Floor Speech

RECOGNIZING HUNGER AWARENESS DAY -- (House of Representatives - June 05, 2007)

(Mr. LARSEN of Washington asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in recognition of Hunger Awareness Day.

Each day millions of our fellow Americans will go to bed hungry. In my home State of Washington, around 95,000 families suffer from hunger. Each day, approximately 300,000 families in Washington State are forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying their bills. Worst of all, 39 percent of those served by Washington's largest hunger relief agency are children.

In the wealthiest and most agriculture-rich nation in this world, this is simply unacceptable. As Americans, we all must do our part to make sure everyone in our communities, young and old, get enough to eat.

In my district, organizations like the Boys and Girls Club of Monroe, Washington, are using today to hold food drives and benefit dinners to support local food banks. Many organizations across the State and Nation are doing their part to fight the hunger epidemic. We need to match their efforts in Congress.

So as Congress works to reauthorize the farm bill this year, we need to make sure that Federal anti-hunger programs and emergency food assistance programs get the resources they need. I want to thank our local leaders in Washington State and across the country for their work fighting hunger, and I call on my colleagues in Congress to join their efforts.

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