Conference Report On H.R. 2997, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. I thank the chairwoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the fiscal year 2010 Agriculture appropriations conference report, and specifically the provision included in the bill that will grant Wisconsin a waiver in the Child and Adult Food Care Program to serve a third meal through the At-Risk After-School Supper Program. As a matter of fact, Representative ANDRÉ CARSON and I have introduced H.R. 3321 that would also provide a third After-School Supper meal. I want to thank the chairwoman here and Senator HERB KOHL in the Senate for diligently putting together a bill with record funding that will help to meet the needs of all those who are food insecure.

Every 35 seconds a child is born into poverty, and in the United States 12 million children are at risk of going hungry. In the city of Milwaukee, a city I represent, this is the 11th-poorest large city in the Nation, and we are in dire need of this expansion.

Mr. Speaker, as a school-aged youth, I attended school hungry every day. But now that our country is facing a recession, all signs point to an epidemic of hunger unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of people we have seen living in poverty and suffering from very low food security rose from 8.5 million to 11.9 million. This is a 40 percent increase in the numbers of households living in poverty.

In my own city of Milwaukee, we have the largest achievement gap between blacks and whites in Wisconsin. But studies have shown that students who eat nutritious meals every day perform better on standardized tests, improve reading and are more attentive in class. Every single day this program provides 3.1 million children with nutritious meals.

Mr. Speaker, I again congratulate the gentlewoman.

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