I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding me the time. Let me begin by thanking Majority Leader Hoyer and Chairman Peterson, and their staff, for quickly scheduling this bipartisan resolution for consideration today.
This resolution honors the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for 40 years of fighting hunger in the United States.
There are more than 36 million food insecure - or hungry - people living in America today. The Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS, is the lifeline for the hungry in our country.
The mission of FNS is to provide children and needy families better access to food and a more healthful diet through its food assistance programs and comprehensive nutrition education efforts. FNS does this by administering the Food Stamp - now called SNAP - program and child nutrition programs that include the school and summer meal programs. Without these programs and without the dedicated staff at FNS, millions of people in this country would be facing starvation and malnutrition.
Their work and dedication should be commended and I'm pleased to be the lead sponsor of this resolution honoring the 40th Anniversary of the Food and Service Nutrition. I'm also pleased that my good friend and colleague, the gentlelady from Missouri Mrs. Emerson, is a cosponsor of this resolution. Unfortunately, my good friend cannot be here for this debate but she is a strong supporter of FNS and I ask Unanimous Consent to insert her statement into the record following my remarks.
Over the past two years, we've seen a major expansion in our nation's anti-hunger programs. SNAP has been expanded twice - first, in the Farm Bill which expanded both the eligibility and the purchasing power of the program and second, in the Recovery Act, where the SNAP program benefits were accelerated to stimulate the economy and help families better afford food during this economic downturn.
This year, we expect to see the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Programs - WIC, the school breakfast, lunch, childcare, afterschool and summer meal programs. And FNS is in the forefront of these programs.
M. Speaker, I'm pleased with the work FNS has done for the past 40 years. But this is also an opportunity to look to the future. I'm encouraged by the new administration and the leadership of Secretary Vilsack and his team at USDA. They are exploring ways to fight hunger and I'm looking forward to developing a strong working relationship with Secretary Vilsack.
And while I'm pleased that USDA and FNS have worked so hard at responsibly implementing the anti-hunger programs authorized in the Farm Bill and in the Recovery Act, I am concerned that there hasn't been more done on President Obama's pledge to end childhood hunger by 2015.
I encourage the Secretary to use this 40th anniversary recognition to rededicate USDA not only to ending child hunger in the United States but to start working with Members of Congress and other stakeholders on ways to improve the federal anti-hunger programs.
I believe the Secretary should convene a Cabinet-level working group consisting not only of members of the Administration but also Congressional leaders - in order to to brainstorm on ways the Administration and Congress can work together to combat hunger in this country. We need to show that the goal of ending child hunger by 2015 is something this Administration is committed to achieving.
I also encourage USDA and FNS to look into using their regulatory authority to make it easier for eligible families and individuals to sign up or be recertified for SNAP and other federal anti-hunger programs. In Massachusetts, we are seeing backlogs of new applications that last upwards of several weeks between submission of the application and approval or denial of that application. The issue is the increasing number of people who are becoming eligible for SNAP at the same time as current SNAP participants need to be recertified in order to continue participating in the program. The result is a backlog of cases for state administrators, causing lengthy delays that result in denial of food to hungry people.
Finally, I strongly encourage the White House to convene a conference on Food and Nutrition in order to bring together our nation's leaders and stakeholders on hunger and nutrition. We need to put into place a strategy to end all hunger in this country and we need to do so while improving the availability of nutritious food. That will take presidential leadership, and I hope President Obama will convene this conference soon.
M. Speaker, I congratulate FNS on 40 years of great work. Once again, I thank Chairman Peterson for his willingness to move this resolution through the process quickly and I yield back the balance of my time.
