Date: 2011-06-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

As the gentleman rises. I ask myself the question and I ask this body. Who will speak for the children? And thats why my amendment attempts to fully fund the Women. Infants. and Children program that provides food for the Nations children. It provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods. nutrition. education. and health care referrals to lowincome pregnant and postpartum women. infants. and children up to 5 years old. We must remember that children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 8.7 million people who received WIC benefits. each month in fiscal year 2008. about 4.33 million were children. and 2.2 million were infants. This bill cuts $650 million out of WIC. and I am so glad my good friend from Georgiaand I appreciate his friendshipjust got up and said the Agricultural Research Service is pretty darn well funded. $900 million. I am simply asking to address the question of the staggering devastation of malnutrition in our children. And I have indicated that when you look at worldwide numbers. malnutrition can kill. But here in the United States. there are children that go to bed hungry. There are women that do not eat properly. There are babies that do not get nourishment. In Texas alone. between 23.000 and 40.000 people are expected to be dropped from the WIC program if the funding is not restored. and each and every State in the Union is going to receive that kind of devastating impact. Can you imagine 40.000 women. infants. and children not being able to eat because we wont restore full funding? Texas has three of the top 40 districts with the highest national food hardship rates. and in the 18th Congressional District. there are 159.000 food insecure people. The food insecurity rate is 23 percent. and Texas stands 32 in the Nation out of 435 districts. We are 32 in food insecurity. So. let me just say. alongside of obesity. eating wrong. we have to face the actual question of hunger. Children who are served by the WIC program in Texas are less likely to eat fast food in comparison to children who are not in this program. Again. I want you to look at this picture. Healthy children need to eat healthy. And I ask my colleagues why. in fact. would we not want to fully fund the program of women and infant children? I will say that the impact of not eating healthy is obesity and poor health. This healthy baby. healthylooking baby has a future that is undetermined when you have an issue of lack of healthy food and access to such. So $650 million. when were. in essence. funding research for $900 million. I believe you can share a little. because the WIC program is beneficial in helping the most vulnerable in our country. I ask the question: Who will speak for the children? It is important that the WIC program. 9.2 million through 10.000 clinics. among this group. 4.9 million children. 2.1 million infants. and 1 million women have the ability to be served around the Nation. Its a complementary program. having healthy mothers. healthy pregnant mothers to give birth to healthy babies. to raise healthy children. not obese. nourished and ready to be leaders in this Nation. Who are we if we are not going to speak for our children? And I ask my colleagues to consider waiving procedural issues to ensure that children are served. I believe that is an important issue. And in my district. in the 18th Congressional District. with 1.000 census tracts of people who are food insecure. I am arguing vigorously for the full funding of the WIC program to help our women. our infants. and their children. Who will speak for our children? What will their future be. and how will they lead this country if we do not invest with them today? I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 2112 "Agriculture. Rural Development. Food and Drug Administration. and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. 2112." as it restores full funding to the Women. Infant. and Children (WIC) program. As the Founder of the Childrens Caucus and a Member of the Womens Caucus. I have firmly stood in support of the nutritional needs of our Nations families. As a country we must protect and safeguard the health and nutrition of our Nations lowincome families. Women. Infant. and Children (WIC) provides Federal grants to states for supplemental foods. nutrition education. and health care referrals to lowincome pregnant and postpartum women. infants. and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. During the final quarter of Fiscal Year 2009. the number of women. infants. and children receiving WIC benefits each month reached approximately 9.3 million. We must remember that children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 8.7 million people who received WIC benefits each month in Fiscal year 2008. about 4.33 million were children and 2.22 million were infants. WIC is essential because it affords many women. especially women of color in lower income brackets. the opportunity to care for themselves and their newborns after birth. Without programs such as WIC. many mothers would not be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle during pregnancies and after childbirth. Because of WIC. mothers can afford the nutritional foods they need to sustain their pregnancies and avoid miscarriages. stillbirths and defects caused by malnourishment during pregnancy. Today. I am proud to support a full restoration of funding to WIC. This program. which is distinctly American. demonstrates that we place a high value on feeding our Nations children and tending to the needs of our Nations poor. Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed "with certain unalienable Rights. that among these are Life. Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights. Governments are instituted among Men. deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . .I believe that it is no coincidence that life is listed firstfor without it. the Founders realized. no other rights can be realized. Over many years. the millions of Americans who could not access medical services were denied their right to lifea life with access to quality and affordable health care. Let me set the record straight. WIC is good for the American people and will go a long way in ensuring access to quality and affordable care to those millions of Americans who will need access to proper nutrition. WIC helps to ensure that our country will not succumb to one of the most staggering causes of death in children around the world: Malnutrition. Malnutrition remains a significant problem worldwide. particularly among children. It should not be a problem within the United States. that is why we have programs like WIC. According to the United Nations World Food Programme. severe acute malnutrition affects an estimated 20 million children under the age of five worldwide and is responsible in whole or in part for more than half of all deaths of children. Malnutrition kills approximately one million children each year. or an average of one every thirty seconds. This is not the direction we want to take the United States. Madam Chair. when I stand here today and reflect upon what we are about to embark upon. I cannot help but think of some of the last words that the Great Senator Ted Kennedy shared in his letter to President Obama. The Senator said. "And so because of your (Obamas) vision and resolve. I came to believe that soon. very soon. affordable health coverage will be available to all. in an America where the state of a familys health will never again depend on the amount of a familys wealth. And while I will not see the victory. I was able to look forward and know that we willyes we willfulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege." Well. Senator. your lifes work shall today be proven to not be in vain. I continue to stand by protecting the health needs of low income families. And. yes. this program ensures the health of infants and children will never again depend on the amount of their familys income. In the words of the great President John F. Kennedy. "the voters selected us. in short. because they had confidence in our judgment and our ability to exercise that judgment from a position where we could determine what were their own best interests. as a part of the nations interest." Madam Chair. while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to believe that without a cut to WIC this will harm Americans. nothing could be further from the truth. This bill is indeed in their best interests: There are 110 million schoolaged children suffering from hunger every day. and they are counting on Americas leadership and generosity to provide them with an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. The WIC program provides that leadership and generosity and it is for this reason that I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for restoring full funding to WIC. In the words of the great civil rights leader. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.. "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." We cannot wait. We will not wait to protect the lives of our children. We can not delay in providing the most vulnerable citizens of this great Nation access to proper nutrition.