Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker. Members of the House. first of all. I want to begin by thanking the staffs of the committee on both sides of the aisle. We may not agree on this bill. but we spent a lot of time in this committee on hearings and the presentation of facts and the marshaling of those facts and the drafting of legislation. We had an awful lot of cooperation across the aisle. and I want to thank everybody for that effort. Specifically. on the majority side. I want to thank Gabrielle Serra. Kara Marchione. Kim Zarish Becknell. Ria Ruiz. Jose Garza. Betsy Kittredge Miller. Melissa Salmanowitz. Denise Forte. and Jody Calemine. and Brian Ronholm from Ms. DELAUROS staff. Keith Stern from Mr. McGOVERNS staff. and Erik Stallman from the Speakers staff. All of these individuals were helpful in the negotiations not only here in the House and the presentation of this legislation. but monitoring and looking at what was happening in the Senate where this legislation that were considering today was not only passed out of the Senate with unanimous consent. but it was also passed out of the committee with unanimous consent. where it was given full consideration. where the hearings were made and built the confidence of the members of that committee on both sides of the aisle and built the confidence obviously on both sides of the aisle in the Senate so that it could pass with unanimous consent. And why has that happened? Because this legislation deals with and addresses in the most profound way the problem of hunger among our schoolchildren. among poor schoolchildren in this Nation. But we also address the needs of the various institutions that are involved in delivering this nutrition to these children. And that is to the local school districts. to the local schools. And we have simplified the program. We have made it more efficient. We have taken away much of the redundant activity that they used to have to go through to check the same kid four times a day in four different settings. And we got rid of that to reduce the costs of the program. And we received bipartisan support for that effort. We also made it safer. Up until this legislation was passed. in many instances schools are the last to know that a food recall has taken place. and that the recall may be taking place where the food for the schools is produced. But because they are not on the list. they are not in the protocols. the schoolchildren are put at risk. as we have seen in the recent recalls. So its safer for those children. its healthier for those children. The 6cent increase in the meal program is the first one in 30 years. And its with the designed purpose to improve the quality of the meal program. I know these children. I have seen these children. I know them through the Diabetics Association. I know them through the programs on obesity. We have a very serious problem. And this is an effort. agreed to by the Pediatrics Association and others. that this is the way to attack it and to start to build a barrier against childhood obesity and adultonset obesity. And we have got to change that diet. And thats where major. major savings in health care come from. So this is a bill that has been thought out in its entirety. Its a bill that is respectful of local control. Its respectful of the needs of school settings and their particular situations. We tried to do that. We listened to school food administrators for districts across this country. all of whom had ideas for efficiencies and improvements. And many of those are ingrained in this legislation. So I would hope that my colleagues. when they would come to the floor later to vote on this bill. will vote for this legislation. They will understand its fully paid for. They will understand that it received unanimous consent in both the committee in the Senate and on the Senate floor. With that. I urge the passage of this legislation.