Tom Harkin: “I heard some people say I am harming the WIC Program. I disagree. You tell me how fair it is for young soldiers here…”

“I heard some people say I am harming the WIC Program. I disagree. You tell me how fair it is for young soldiers here under the current rules. Military families living in the United States are eligible for WIC, and their wives are pregnant, they have kids, and they are getting the WIC Program, and all of a sudden they are sent overseas. Once they get overseas, they are no longer eligible for the WIC Program. Is that fair? They still have the same needs. All my amendment says is if they are eligible for the WIC Program here in America, they are eligible if they are shipped overseas. The DOD estimates maybe $10 or $20 million more per year in costs. So that is all my amendment does, these modest but important improvement to the underlying bill. It says that if you are a member of the armed forces eligible for a $180 special allowance while stationed in America, you are eligible overseas. That is all it says. If you are eligible for WIC here, you are eligible overseas. It also makes the process streamlined so you do not have to go down to the food stamp office, back to the military, and back to the food stamp office just to qualify for the special allowance. And it treats military housing allowances, as far as eligibility, in a more fair manner.”