Press Releases

Statement of U.S. Representative James P. McGovern
End Hunger Now - Childhood Hunger in America
April 25, 2013

M. Speaker -I rise today to talk about the national shame of child hunger in America. I wish it didn't exist, but we can't ignore the fact that there are more than 16 million kids in America who are food insecure - quite simply, that means more than 16 million children went hungry in 2011.

That's unconscionable. That's unacceptable.

Hunger has no place in the richest, most prosperous nation on Earth. Letting anyone in this country go without food is bad enough, but letting children go hungry is more than heartbreaking - it's just, plain wrong. Yet we let it happen every day in America.

16 million children, M. Speaker. That means one in five kids in America go to bed hungry and wake up hungry at some point in their lives during the year. That means one in five kids don't know when their next meal is coming.

We are allowing more than 16 million kids to wake up hungry, go to school hungry and go to sleep hungry. We are allowing more than 16 million kids to be deprived of proper nutrition - the nutrition contained in good, healthy food that helps children's minds and bodies properly develop. We are allowing more than 16 million kids to struggle at school and have problems learning simply because they suffer from hunger.

Child hunger has many impacts. Kids who don't eat enough good, healthy food will not develop properly. They have more health problems and require more costly healthcare than children who don't have to worry about hunger. Sometimes the lack of food results in developmental problems and learning disabilities. Other times, hunger simply doesn't allow kids to concentrate. These problems can lead to under-education, which can have long-term effects, including a lifetime of low-paying jobs and even unemployment.

America has several anti-hunger safety net programs to deal with hunger. Some of these programs are specially designed for children. SNAP - informally known as Food Stamps - is the biggest anti-hunger program in the federal government. It does a good job, but there are still many ways that it can be improved. Over many years we have also created the National School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program. And in order to meet increased demand, we now have afterschool snack and meal programs.

But these programs are inadequate in many ways. The breakfast and lunch programs provide either a free or a reduced price meal. The free meal is available to those kids whose families are quite poor. But the reduced price meals are available to kids of families who are poor, but not poor enough to qualify for the free plan. This means there are days and even weeks when a child's family simply may not have enough money to pay for the reduced price meal. That's a serious problem.

Another problem is that breakfasts are typically served before school starts, meaning that poor kids have to get themselves to school early just to get a good meal. This can create a stigma where these kids get teased and bullied because they're poor. But it can also result in a pattern where these children don't have regular access a breakfast if their parents can't get them to school on time or if the school buses don't deliver them to school early enough. Organizations like the EOS Foundation in Massachusetts and states like West Virginia are working to fix this by promoting breakfast at the bell programs - a solution I strongly support.

And then there are weekends, where schools aren't open. Food banks, churches, synagogues, mosques, and other anti-hunger organizations are filling that gap with food backpacks that are given out on Friday afternoons.

As a candidate, then-Senator Obama pledged to End Childhood Hunger by 2015. It was a good idea then, and it's a good idea now. We worked hard and many of us pushed for a comprehensive childhood hunger plan - we even wore these buttons to show our support.

M. Speaker, 2015 is only two years away. There is no way that we're not going to make that goal, but it doesn't mean we should give up. No, M. Speaker, now is the time to redouble our efforts. Now is the time to make the pledge to End Hunger Now. And that's not just a clever tag line. No, M. Speaker, we can End Hunger Now if we start with a commitment to develop a comprehensive plan to do so.

That's why I continue to call for Presidential leadership on this serious matter. We need a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition to develop a comprehensive plan that will address all aspects of hunger in America - and especially child hunger. We need this Conference to bring all stakeholders - like the EOS Foundation, the Governor and other political leaders from West Virginia and other organizations that are not typically in the anti-hunger movement - together in one room to develop a comprehensive plan, take assignments, and make it work. And if we do this, we can End Hunger Now.

I yield back the balance of my time.