Political Quotes

“I rise today with my colleagues Senator Collins and Senator Udall to raise the concern of nutrition guidelines in our schools. This amendment aims to clarify school nutrition standards to ensure that they appropriately reflect the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans. As you may know, on January 31, 2011, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Federal Government's evidence- based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity. However, just 2 weeks prior, on January 13, 2011, USDA released a proposed rule to improve nutrition requirements for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program to align them with the 2005 ``Dietary Guidelines for Americans.'' This was bureaucratic confusion exemplified. Why not delay the proposed rule for our Federal meal programs by 2 weeks and instead release it to reflect the most recent nutrition guidelines that were issued on January 31? While I understand and agree with the necessity and desire to update the nutrition standards in schools, wouldn't it be more effective to utilize the most recent, science-based guidelines to reflect those recommendations?…”