William L. Clay: “if the President were awake at this time of night and watching these proceedings, I am sure that he would say that while…”

“if the President were awake at this time of night and watching these proceedings, I am sure that he would say that while he is pleased that this important measure is moving forward, he is also disappointed that we have yet to tackle even more critical priorities in education. This Congress has failed to take action on reducing class sizes. This Congress has failed to take action to address crumbling and overcrowded schools. This Congress has failed to take action on revitalizing our public schools. If this Congress fails to take action on these critical education priorities, we are shortchanging America's schoolchildren. I am sure that would be the response that our President would make. This bill, the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998, before the House is the product of bipartisan work and an excellent example of what can be accomplished when we join forces to address problems facing our Nation's youth. This important legislation firmly places our child nutrition programs on the path to serve the needs of America's children in the 21st century.”