Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
Floor Speech
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Madam Speaker, I rise to support the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. This important legislation will expand access to school meals programs and improve nutritional quality. It is a much-needed step forward for the health of America's children.
This bill improves access to school meals programs by streamlining certification of children who meet income requirements without burdensome applications. It provides more universal meal access for eligible children in high-poverty areas. And it increases the number of out-of-school meals for low-income children by allowing reimbursement for Child and Adult Care Food Program providers.
The bill also makes important improvements to the quality of school meals by increasing the reimbursement rates for schools for the first time in over 30 years. Additional grants will help communities establish and strengthen farm-to-school networks and school gardens to use more local foods in school cafeterias. And the bill strengthens nutrition standards for all food served in schools.
This bill is not perfect. I am concerned about using the SNAP program as an offset, and I look forward to working with the Administration to restore those funds before cuts take place in 2013. But this bill, which passed the U.S. Senate unanimously, makes important changes to school nutrition programs and will improve the health of our nation's children. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which would reauthorize child nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
As a co-chair of the Congressional Olympic and Paralympic Caucus, I have worked to promote physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle for our nation's children. Physical activity and nutrition are key factors in staying healthy and avoiding chronic illness. Because good health habits begin in childhood, this legislation will go a long way in preventing many chronic diseases.
This bill, which is fully offset, provides greatly needed improvements to our country's child nutrition programs in school and child care settings. This legislation will increase program enrollment and make it easier for low-income children to access benefits. This measure also contains the most significant improvements to these programs in more than 30 years in order to reduce childhood hunger and obesity.
I am also pleased that this legislation establishes national nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools throughout the day--an area in which Rhode Island has led. With 79,000 Rhode Island children participating in the National School Lunch Program and 26,000 participating in the School Breakfast Program, S. 3307 will ensure students do not go hungry throughout the school day by providing access to nutritious meals. This measure also increases funding for school nutrition programs for purchasing fruits, vegetables and nuts, and creates more avenues for produce to flow from local farmers to schools.
While I do not support the elimination of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program temporary benefit increase provided by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included in this bill, I will work vigilantly to restore this cut before it goes into effect in 2013.
I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important measure
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