Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Miller was talking about white potatoes. How does this bill affect white potatoes? I saw this movie called ``Fed Up,'' and white potatoes in general are the evil that cause people to get obese and gain weight. How are white potatoes in this bill?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. That is what I was astonished about, Mr. Farr, when I watched this movie. It was Katie Couric, and I forget all the other people involved in producing it. But it was about how Congress had basically acquiesced to special interests to change the dietary guidelines, to the detriment of children, women, and infants. Carbohydrates and the production of insulin causing the digestive system and body to produce fat is the main cause of obesity. It is not exercise. It is not pushing yourself away from the table so much, but they discovered it is carbs and white potatoes. So we are now putting white potatoes back because of the potato industry? This is the Idaho provision?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the Kelly-Cohen-Titus amendment to increase funding to the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program.

For many young people, the end of school is an exciting day, and they get out for the summer. But for the millions of children and families who rely on school lunch for meals, the summer months are a time of stress, anxiety, and hunger when those meals disappear.

The Summer Food Service Program, created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides free, nutritious meals and snacks to help children get the nutrition they need to learn, play, and grow throughout the summer months when they are out of school.

Last Monday, I joined the Summer Food Kickoff at Emerald Square in Memphis in support of this program. I had the opportunity to speak with kids, watch them in delight as they ate their lunch and listened to them read books provided by Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

This amendment would increase the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children program by $3 million. The project allows USDA to study alternative approaches to providing food assistance to low-income children in urban and rural districts through the summer months.

Additional funding to this program for children would not only reduce childhood hunger when school is out and encourage healthier eating but allow us to learn more about food insecurity among children and the best approaches to reducing it long-term.

The wealthiest Nation of the world should not send its children to bed hungry, so making sure they have the food they need must be a top priority.

This program helps fill the gap when students are not in school, providing meals for many children that would otherwise go hungry in Memphis, Chicago, Las Vegas, and throughout the Nation.

By increasing funding to this program, we can be sure we are feeding our kids a healthy meal each day. I urge passage of the amendment to restore funding to the Summer Food Service Program.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source