Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first of all, my friend and colleague, esteemed member of our Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee is making me hungry. I am thinking about growing up with cookies and milk. I grew up with dairy farmers in my family. So I am certainly a supporter of milk and the dairy industry, certainly in Michigan as well. And this is a really important conversation today to have and to continue to have. I fully support healthy options for students. Dairy is a very important part of a balanced meal. But one thing is clear, and that is that school meal standards, currently based on dietary science, should continue to be based on dietary science, not based on which individual food products we support or are in our States. USDA is in the process, right now, of updating school meal standards. It is important that the administration rely on the latest dietary science to make decisions about what is best for our children to eat and to drink. Intervening in that process creates, I think, a very unfortunate precedent and will lead to other ideas and options that may be coming forward about individual products. So I encourage groups to be reaching out to the USDA and to engage in the process of updating meal standards. But, at this point in time, I do not believe it is in the best interest to be able to move forward on this bill. So I object to this UC request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection has been heard.”