Norvell Emerson: “I want to thank Chairman Combest and Ranking Member Stenholm for working endlessly on the Farm Security Act of 2001. I…”

“I want to thank Chairman Combest and Ranking Member Stenholm for working endlessly on the Farm Security Act of 2001. I want them to know that I think they have done a superb job. I think it is an excellent bill. The producers in my district think it is an excellent bill, in spite of what some other people might say. I sincerely appreciate their efforts to include the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in the trade title of the farm bill. Missouri's own Harry Truman joined 20,000 Americans on May the 8th, 1946, in sending food donations to victims and survivors of World War II. Many of these recipients were children. And when the packages reached the port at LeHavre, France, it was clear that the folks in the U.S. had joined forces to help those in need, something that Americans have always done at home and abroad. We are fortunate to have overcome the scars of starvation experienced in World War II here in this country, but the battle against hunger and for survival still exists today. We know the school lunch program here in America has made a genuine difference in the lives of hungry children; but, unfortunately, children in other countries are still starving. Three hundred million poor children are undernourished, and 35,000 children die every day from hunger-related disease and illness. A hungry child cannot learn.”