Pelosi calls for House passage of child nutrition reauthorization legislation

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, Congressman Jim McGovern and Senator Blanche Lincoln held a press conference call this afternoon to urge House passage of child nutrition reauthorization legislation, which the Senate has already passed. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

"Thank you, Chairman Miller, for your tremendous leadership for America's children. I know that since your days, decades ago, as a staffer in Sacramento, you were working on child nutrition issues. So thank you for getting us to where we are today. And I want to call special attention to Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, for her tremendous leadership for getting such strong, bipartisan support in the Senate on this legislation and for crafting such a wonderful bill that addresses the twin issues of childhood obesity and healthier children in America. I want to also acknowledge the great work of the First Lady for shining a bright light on those two issues. Rosa DeLauro, Carolyn McCarthy, and Jim McGovern have been champions on childhood nutrition and just hunger issues in general, and I salute them for their leadership.

"Mr. Miller has gone over the provisions of the bill, and I would just say that he makes a very convincing argument that we should pass this legislation immediately. It was passed unanimously in the Senate. Thank you, Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln.

"And it is really important just to note that the future prosperity of our country depends on having a highly educated and skilled workforce that is ready to compete. But kids that have food insecurity learn at a slower than their peers, have significantly lower math scores, and are much more likely to repeat grades. Simply put, they don't have the same chance to succeed. This is the right, moral thing for us to do. It also has impact on our competitiveness.

"It has an impact also on our national security. As we know the National School Lunch Act came about when we saw the diet related health problems of our military personnel during World War II. And so it's about competitiveness. It's about our national security. It is our moral responsibility to our children.

"This legislation is fiscally responsible and it is something that we must invest in diet, not diabetes. Simply put, we cannot afford to ignore this challenge.

"And so with that, I thank all that have brought us towards this important point, and I want to yield back to Chairman Miller with my deepest gratitude for his leadership and to others on the phone."