Timothy Roemer: “I would just like to hopefully wrap up this very successful special order on women's health issues and congratulate my…”

“I would just like to hopefully wrap up this very successful special order on women's health issues and congratulate my classmate, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton], and the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson] for a very, very successful hour of discussion on very critical matters of women's health. I would like to be the last speaker on that particular issue and talk about an issue that is very important to me as a Congressman, as a father, as a taxpayer, as somebody that believes in a woman's health issue known as the WIC program. What is the WIC Program? It is the Women, Infants and Children Program, and it is a program that has always enjoyed wide bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats alike have supported this program because it accomplishes some very important things. First, it reduces low birth weight in babies. Second, it reduces the infant mortality rates, death rates for babies born prematurely. Third, it reduces child anemia. And last, it has been directly linked to improving cognitive development for children. Now why am I as a Member of Congress concerned about this? I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, because milk prices have increased this year and last, and the caseload experience and the caseload numbers have increased in the WIC Programs in an alarming rate. So the White House has very, very wisely asked for a $76 million increase to take care of this increase in milk prices and caseload.”