I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5107
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
JULY 11, 2002
Ms. SANCHEZ (for herself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. FROST, Mr.
HALL of Ohio, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. LEE, Mr. LAFALCE, Mrs.
MINK of Hawaii, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. WAXMAN, Mrs.
JONES of Ohio, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. FRANK, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms.
WATSON of California, Mrs. CAPPS, and Mrs. EMERSON) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
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 2002’’.
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’’;
(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
(C) by striking ‘‘in each of the fiscal years
1991 through 2002 to the Secretary of Agri-
culture’’ and inserting ‘‘in each fiscal year’’;
(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’’;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out the commodity supple-
mental food program—
‘‘(A) $120,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;
‘‘(B) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
‘‘(C) $160,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
‘‘(D) $180,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
‘‘(E) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
and
‘‘(F) such sums as are necessary for fiscal
year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of
the funds made available under paragraph (1) shall
be available to reimburse the Commodity Credit Cor-
poration for commodities donated to the commodity
supplemental food program.’’.
(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)’’.
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