Lugar Statement for National Hunger Awareness Day

Statement

In advance of the sixth annual Hunger Awareness Day on Tuesday, June 5, U.S. Senator Dick Lugar recognized the more than 35 million Americans that are on the brink of hunger.

He asked for support of local food banks and drew attention to the provisions included in his proposed farm bill which would boost resources to address domestic and international hunger issues.

"While food drives are popular during the holiday season, June 5 is an important day to remember that hunger knows no season," said Lugar. "Tragically, more than one in ten U.S. households experience hunger or are at risk of hunger and many report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities, rent or medical care. This is a sobering trend in a country that is fortunate to be one of the great food producers in human history.

"In the Agriculture Committee, we have noted hunger issues and food banks as the most effective way to provide a safety net for Americans who rely on food assistance. Yet food banks nationwide face shortages as more families rely on their resources and as donations of non-perishable food items are in decline.

"The most basic act of human charity is feeding a hungry person, and each citizen can make an important contribution to the fight against hunger at a local level by donating to their local food banks in recognition of Hunger Awareness Day.

"Congress also has the opportunity to address hunger issues during the re-authorization of farm programs this summer. The reforms proposed in my farm bill would provide additional resources to America's hungry by supporting food banks, improving and strengthening the Food Stamp program and increasing opportunities to provide nutritious meals and snacks to young people at school. At the same time, it would direct additional funding to support international and emergency efforts to provide food assistance."

Lugar's Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act (FARM 21) would end the current market and trade distorting farm subsidy system and replace it with a new system of risk management accounts and insurance tools managed by farmers. The bill, S. 1422, would direct savings into nutrition programs as well as deficit reduction, conservation efforts and renewable energy development.

Specifically, the nutrition title calls for approximately $6 billion in funding for programs that would:

* Expand the Simplified Summer Food Program nationwide which helps fill the gap in low-income neighborhoods by providing needy children with nutrition during the summer months when school lunches are not provided;
* Expand the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables grant program nationwide which provides healthy snacks to students at school, with the goal of 100 participating schools per state;
* Increase the standard deduction for Food Stamp recipients from $134 to $143 and index it for inflation in order to help Food Stamp recipients in their purchasing power;
* Increase the asset limit for Food Stamp beneficiaries by adjusting for inflation the allowable liquid assets one can have to still be eligible for Food Stamps. The proposal would also exempt savings accounts for education and retirement from eligibility determination, a proposal supported by the Bush Administration;
* Exempt combat zone pay from being included as countable income during deployment for military families seeking Food Stamp assistance;
* Eliminate the deduction cap on child care expenses to allow families to deduct the full cost of child care in determining eligibility in the Food Stamp program;
* Fund for the technology needed to allow farmers' markets to accept Food Stamps;
* Increase funding for the McGovern-Dole program which provides food assistance in secular schools in developing nations. The program has shown success in improving attendance of children, especially girls;
* Increase mandatory funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) from $140 million per year to $245 million per year by 2011 and adjust it annually for inflation in subsequent years; and
* Assist food banks, and other non-profit organizations, in increasing hunger alleviations services to underserved and rural communities by providing a $5 million per year grant program to improve infrastructure needs.

Lugar has consistently supported legislation that supports food banks and anti-hunger efforts in the U.S. He is the author of the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act which was included in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and allows farmers and small business owners to receive tax deductions for food products contributed to food banks, pantries and homeless shelters for calendar years 2006 and 2007. In the 110th Congress, he has introduced a bill to increase the valuation to full market value of the donation and make the provisions a permanent part of the Internal Revenue Code.

Lugar is also a cosponsor of S. 1172, the Hunger Free Communities Act of 2007, which increases federal funding available to community-based anti-hunger organizations to help plan and implement local strategies to end hunger, and to improve food service delivery efforts to distribute food to hungry people.

To mark Hunger Awareness Day Lugar's Washington, D.C. office is collecting non-perishable food items, hygiene products and education program products for the Capital Area Food Bank, which is the largest public, nonprofit food and nutrition education resource in the Washington metropolitan area. In Indiana, Lugar partners with food banks throughout the state each December to assist in donations throughout the holiday season.

Lugar is a member and former Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. His efforts in child nutrition have been recognized nationally by the National Council of La Raza with a 2004 Capitol Award highlighting his efforts through the years for nutrition programs for low-income Americans, especially children. Lugar also has been recognized by FRAC and the School Nutrition Association, among others for his work in child nutrition.

Internationally, Lugar has been honored by the Friends of the World Food Program with the Leaders in the Fight Against Hunger award for his work to strengthen the U.S. school breakfast and lunch programs, expand food stamps, support food banks, and advance international food aid operations.

More details on the Lugar farm bill can be found at: www.lugar.senate.gov/farmbill.

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