Political Quotes

“I would like to applaud the chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Sasser, for continuing to make funding for the WIC a high priority in the Senate budget resolution. Mr. President, WIC serves children at one of the most critical times of their lives. It provides nutritious food, access to health care and nutrition education to pregnant women and young children up to age 5 who are low income and at nutritional risk. WIC is universally acclaimed as one of our Nation's most successful and cost-effective early intervention programs. I would like to highlight the role that a program like WIC can play in health care reform. WIC is a perfect example of how prevention can work to save both money and lives. When pregnant women participate in WIC, they give birth to healthier babies. A study released last May by Mathematica Policy Research found that infant mortality rates for babies born to WIC participants are one-fourth to two-thirds that of nonparticipants. Reductions in neonatal mortality rates are even greater--one-sixth to two-thirds the rate of nonparticipants. Mr. President, the infant mortality rate in the U.S. ranks 22d among industrialized nations. We have a moral responsibility to invest in WIC.”