Political Quotes

“block granting the School Lunch Program, as called for in Contract With America, places our Nation's most precious natural resource--its children--at risk. We can and should look for ways to improve the School Lunch Program. But we cannot create a block grant, cut the funding, and expect the States to do more with less. This is not, as some would have us believe, a deficit reduction issue. We need to balance the Federal budget. But we cannot do it on the backs of children. Helen Rankin, a school food service director in Maine, expressed this sentiment very eloquently to me. She said: As an adult, I am willing to make sacrifices to reduce the deficit, but let us not begin by slashing funds for defenseless children who cannot speak for themselves and do not have the right to vote. As we look after the hungry children of the world, let us continue to protect our own. This is an ill-considered and mean spirited proposal, and it should be soundly rejected by this Congress.”