Lynn C. Woolsey: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in absolute opposition to the Sanford amendment, which would prohibit the Department of Agriculture…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in absolute opposition to the Sanford amendment, which would prohibit the Department of Agriculture from completing the School Breakfast Demonstration pilot project. The School Breakfast Demonstration program is a scientific study to measure the effect of providing breakfast at school free of charge to all children, regardless of income, on a broad range of student outcomes, including grades, attendance, tardiness, and also behavior and concentration. Mr. Chairman, yes, we should be providing breakfast for all of our children at their homes in the morning. But we are sure that parents in this busy world we are living in are commuting long hours, they are working long hours, and they leave the house before their children have had breakfast. Every child needs to go to school ready to learn on a full stomach. The Meals for Achievement Act that I authored has already received half of its needed funding. The first $7 million was appropriated last year. The program is already under way. After a nationwide competition, six school districts have been chosen to participate. As we debate, these school districts across the country representing a wide variety of schools, school districts, and students are already setting up their programs. Why would we today take that funding away from them? Mr. Chairman, as a Nation, we are searching for answers to the many challenges our schools and our children face.”