DeLauro Statement On The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Markup

Statement

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, which was marked up in the Education & Workforce Committee earlier today.

"The Republican child nutrition bill is wrong for America's children. Rather than strengthening nutrition programs, like the national school lunch program and the summer meals program, the bill guts these programs and will cause far too many of our children to lose access to healthier meals. Research shows that these actions will have a detrimental effect on academic performance. When children are hungry, they do not perform as well in school. We should be working to eliminate hunger, not exacerbate it.

"This bill should reflect our values. What kind of message are we sending when we would rather let America's children go hungry, than invest in programs that could reduce childhood hunger? The fact that Republicans are proposing to block grant the school lunch program and cutting access to meals in high-poverty areas is absolutely deplorable.

"Congress had the opportunity to expand on previous child nutrition reauthorizations by extending the WIC program to children up to age six, permanently expanding the summer meals program nationwide, and upholding sound nutrition standards. Instead, this bill takes us backwards and undermines our goal of reducing childhood hunger.

"Millions of American children depend on these programs for meals each day. And while Speaker Ryan and Republicans continue to claim that they want to put forward a bold agenda and meaningful proposals to address poverty in America, their actions do not match their words."

On Monday, DeLauro led 111 Members of Congress in calling on House leaders to strengthen nutrition programs in the child nutrition reauthorization rather than enact misguided changes that would hurt our children's access to nutritious meals. More than 750 groups, including the School Nutrition Association, have come out in opposition to the bill as well.

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