Joseph Skeen: “I sincerely believe there is no need for anyone in the United States to go hungry. I can tell my colleagues that our…”

“I sincerely believe there is no need for anyone in the United States to go hungry. I can tell my colleagues that our committee has funded the WIC Program as our No. 1 priority. All other programs in our bill have suffered because of our emphasis on WIC. The Nation's research needs, low-income housing for the poor, conservation programs that protect our lands for future generations, have all had to take reductions because of our interest in assuring healthy children. In spite of that we must maintain a balance of all these programs. Instead, the ugliness of grandstanding and demagoguery have crept into the WIC Program this year. This has never happened before and my committee has held hearings on WIC and deeply analyzed the President's WIC request. We find no basis for an increase except malfeasance. I personally believe that the States have more than enough money to carry the existing caseload for the rest of the year, but in a very concerted political move to show who loves children more, we have State WIC directors telling misleading stories of how people will be released from the WIC rolls. I am disappointed WIC is being used this way.”