Tony Hall: “I have always said that in this country no concern should be more bipartisan than the issue of hunger-- especially as it…”

“I have always said that in this country no concern should be more bipartisan than the issue of hunger-- especially as it affects our children. In that spirit, the WIC Program has long enjoyed strong support from both sides of the aisle, for the crucial role it plays in helping to ensure a healthy start in life for all kids and moms. So, no one was more pleased than I was to see an arrangement worked out for this amendment to be offered on a bipartisan basis, providing the additional $38 million needed to ensure that mothers and children are not dropped from the WIC Program in the coming months. We still have a great deal of work to do, as a country, to tackle the problem of childhood hunger and infant mortality. Most people are surprised to learn that 19 industrialized countries have lower infant death rates than the United States. It is hard to believe that in our rich Nation proportionally more babies die before reaching their first year than in Canada, Australia, Japan, most of Western Europe, and even Hong Kong and Singapore. There is no reason why this should be the case. We have the wherewithal and the know-how to address the problem of infant mortality, and part of the solution is a strong, effective WIC Program. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and keep the WIC Program on solid footing.”