The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E630-E631 on March 11, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM
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speech of
HON. MAXINE WATERS
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, March 9, 2009
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 210, Recognizing the importance of the National School Lunch Program and commend my colleague, Rep. Gwen Moore for bringing this measure before the House.
This important program provides breakfast to over 8 million children through either free or reduced-price meals in approximately 16,000 schools. With the current economic crisis, working families are facing challenges they never expected. Last week, the Department of Labor announced the U.S. economy lost 651,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent, its highest point in since 1983. These job losses make it even harder for some families to feed their children--so they turn to schools for help. We know that children who live in families that experience hunger have been shown to be more likely to have lower math scores, face an increased likelihood of repeating a grade, and receive more special education services.
We've learned over the years that making breakfast widely available through different venues, such as in the classroom, or as students exit their school bus, or outside the classroom, has been shown to diminish the stigma of receiving free or reduced-price breakfast, which often prevents eligible students from getting a traditional breakfast in school cafeterias.
Providing breakfast in the classroom can improve attentiveness and academic performance, while reducing tardiness and disciplinary referrals. Students who eat a complete breakfast have been shown to make fewer mistakes and work faster in math exercises than those who eat a partial breakfast. Students who skip breakfast are more likely to have difficulty distinguishing among similar images, show increased errors, and have slower memory recall. Studies have shown that access to nutritious programs such as the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program helps to create a strong learning environment for children and helps to improve children's concentration in the classroom.
Mr. Speaker, this is an incredibly important program with a well-
documented track record of success. I'm pleased to add my voice of support for the National School Breakfast Program and I will be working with my colleagues to make sure that we provide the resources necessary to provide the benefits of this program to every hungry child who needs breakfast at school.
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