Tony Hall: “I have drafted an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations (H.R. 4577) we are considering today but, in…”

“I have drafted an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations (H.R. 4577) we are considering today but, in deference to Mr. Obey I will not offer it. My amendment aimed to increase the funding for "Meals on Wheels" and other nutrition programs for senior citizens by $19 million. Cuts in the Department of Health and Human Services management budget would offset this vital increase. Mr. Speaker, I recently visited senior centers and food banks in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. As often as I have seen hungry people in this country and abroad, my trip was both eye-opening and disturbing. I met hundreds of people during the two days I spent looking at the problems hungry Americans face: senior citizens who must choose buying medicine and buying groceries; a couple who knows how to make a can of tomato juice last a week (by adding water); a woman who can make "chicken noodle soup" out of an egg, some flour and a lot of water (by omitting the chicken); a Navy veteran who doesn't eat on the weekends because the local soup kitchen isn't open. I will be publishing my report on the trip in the Congressional Record, and I hope our colleagues will take a moment to read their stories. None of these places is far from an interstate, or more than 100 miles from a large community. They may be rural, but they are not isolated.”