Bob Schaffer: “part of providing our children with quality education is making sure they are healthy and well fed. School breakfast and…”

“part of providing our children with quality education is making sure they are healthy and well fed. School breakfast and lunch programs which provide free or discounted meals to low-income children are an integral part of a child's school day. The program relies on families to truthfully reveal their incomes when applying for subsidized meals and schools and administrators to implement the programs honestly and efficiently. And when parents or schools fail to do this, it is the children who suffer. Take the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which overcharged the Federal Government an estimated $23 million for its school lunch program. The Commonwealth failed to pay $11.5 million of its share of program expenses, which were instead billed to Washington. It also served free meals to all of the schoolchildren, including those from upper and middle class and wealthy families. Now, that $23 million could have fed thousands of indigent schoolchildren. What a senseless waste, Mr. Speaker.”