Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 198 / Thursday, October 12, 2000 / Presidential Documents 60573

Proclamation 7355 of October 6, 2000

National School Lunch Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

One of the best ways we can move forward as a society is to meet our

obligations to our children. President Harry Truman recognized this profound

responsibility when he signed the National School Lunch Act into law

in 1946. The significance of this legislation went beyond the daily meal

that children would receive; the National School Lunch Program firmly

established the Federal Government’s commitment to work in partnership

with States, schools, and the agricultural community to administer a major

program designed to improve children’s diets and, in turn, their overall

health and well-being.

Today, more than 96,000 schools serve lunches to over 27 million children

every day—more than half of them for free or at a reduced price, so that

no schoolchild in America, regardless of family income, need go hungry

at lunchtime. We have also built on the program’s success by establishing

a number of child nutrition initiatives administered by the Department of

Agriculture—from the School Breakfast Program, which helps ensure eligible

children are ready to learn; to the Summer Food Service Program, which

serves healthy meals and snacks to low-income children during long school

vacations; to the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides nutritious meals and snacks to infants and young children in day care and

to adults with physical or mental disabilities who are enrolled in adult

day care. Most recently, we authorized funding through the Child Nutrition

Reauthorization Act of 1998 to make snacks available to children and teenagers enrolled in after-school programs.

We can be proud that these school meal programs promote the well-being

of some of our Nation’s most vulnerable children by providing them with

the nourishment they need to develop healthy bodies and sound minds.

Nutritious meals help students reach their full potential by keeping them

alert and attentive in the classroom. As both common sense and extensive

scientific research confirm, a hungry child cannot focus on schoolwork

as well as one who has been fed a nutritious meal.

The National School Lunch Program also offers us a valuable tool for identifying children who are eligible for health insurance under Medicaid or

the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Since 60 percent of children

who lack adequate health coverage participate in the school lunch program,

sharing eligibility information can improve our outreach efforts and bring

us closer to our goal of universal health care for all of America’s children.

My proposed budget for fiscal 2001 sets aside $345 million over 10 years

to help schools share information with Medicaid and the State Children’s

Health Insurance Program so that we can enhance our efforts to reach

eligible children and their families. In addition, this summer I announced

an initiative to expand the school lunch program to the developing world.

This initiative will make school lunches and breakfasts available in the

poorest countries for the poorest children, helping students whose deficiencies in nutrition affect their cognitive development and attracting children who otherwise might never attend school.

60574 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 198 / Thursday, October 12, 2000 / Presidential Documents

As we observe National School Lunch Week this year, let us pay tribute

to the thousands of State and local school food service professionals across

America whose hard work and dedication make these programs a reality

for our children; and let us acknowledge the important role school lunches

play in the healthy development of so many students.

In recognition of the contributions of the National School Lunch Program

to the health, education, and well-being of our Nation’s children, the Congress, by joint resolution of October 9, 1962 (Public Law 87–780), has designated the week beginning the second Sunday in October of each year

as ‘‘National School Lunch Week’’ and has requested the President to issue

a proclamation in observance of this week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, do hereby proclaim October 8 through October 14, 2000, as

National School Lunch Week. I call upon all Americans to recognize those

individuals whose efforts contribute so much to the success of our national

child nutrition programs, whether at the Federal, State, or local level.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of

October, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence

[FR Doc. 00–26393

Filed 10–11–00; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.

œ–