I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1021
To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to assist 
the neediest of senior citizens by modifying the eligibility criteria for 
supplemental foods provided under the commodity supplemental food 
program to take into account the extraordinarily high out-of-pocket med-
ical expenses that senior citizens pay, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2003
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 
BERMAN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. FROST, Mr. HINCHEY, 
Mr. INSLEE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LARSON of 
Connecticut, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MCNULTY, 
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. WATSON, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag-
riculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act 
of 1973 to assist the neediest of senior citizens by modi-
fying the eligibility criteria for supplemental foods pro-
vided under the commodity supplemental food program 
to take into account the extraordinarily high out-of-pock-
et medical expenses that senior citizens pay, and for 
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Nutrition Act 
of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) senior citizens in the United States have 
significant out-of-pocket costs for medical expenses, 
especially for prescription drugs; 
(2) 3 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries do not have 
dependable, affordable, prescription drug coverage; 
(3) as medical costs continue to rise, many sen-
ior citizens are forced to make the difficult choice 
between purchasing prescription drugs and pur-
chasing food; 
(4) the commodity supplemental food program 
provides supplemental nutritious foods to senior citi-
zens in a number of States and localities; 
(5) under the commodity supplemental food 
program—
(A) women, infants, and children with 
household incomes up to 185 percent of the 
Federal Poverty Income Guidelines published 
annually by the Department of Health and 
Human Services may be eligible for supple-
mental foods; but
(B) senior citizens are ineligible for supple-
mental foods if their household incomes are 
greater than 130 percent of the Federal Pov-
erty Income Guidelines; 
(6) during fiscal year 2000—
(A) an average of more than 388,000 peo-
ple each month participated in the commodity 
supplemental food program; and 
(B) the majority of those participants, 
293,000, were senior citizens; and 
(7) in order to serve the neediest senior citi-
zens, taking into account their high out-of-pocket 
medical (including prescription drug) expenses, the 
eligibility requirements for the commodity supple-
mental food program should be modified to make 
more senior citizens eligible for the supplemental 
foods provided under the program. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF ELDERLY PERSONS UNDER THE 
COMMODITY 
SUPPLEMENTAL 
FOOD 
PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Agriculture and 
Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; 
Public Law 93–86) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence of subsection (d)(2)—
(A) by striking ‘‘provide not less’’ and in-
serting ‘‘provide, to the Secretary of Agri-
culture, not less’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, or such greater quan-
tities of cheese and nonfat dry milk as the Sec-
retary determines are necessary,’’ after ‘‘nonfat 
dry milk’’; and 
(2) in subsection (i)—
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 
and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re-
spectively, and indenting appropriately; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘(i) Each’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(i) PROGRAMS SERVING ELDERLY PERSONS.—
‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—An elderly person shall be 
eligible to participate in a commodity supplemental 
food program serving elderly persons if the elderly 
person is at least 60 years of age and—
‘‘(A) is eligible for food stamp benefits 
under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
2011 et seq.); or 
‘‘(B) has a household income that is less 
than or equal to 185 percent of the most recent 
Federal Poverty Income Guidelines published by 
the Department of Health and Human Services.
‘‘(2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 5(a) of the Agriculture and Con-
sumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; 
Public Law 93–86) is amended by striking ‘‘Sec-
retary (1) may’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(2) 
shall’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary shall’’. 
(2) Section 5(g) of the Agriculture and Con-
sumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; 
Public Law 93–86) is amended by striking ‘‘(as de-
fined by the Secretary)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in 
subsection (i)(1)’’.
Æ