Expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the efforts of organizations such as Second Harvest to provide emergency food assistance to hungry people in the United States, and encouraging all Americans to provide volunteer services and other support for local antihunger advocacy efforts and hunger relief charities, including food banks, food rescue organizations, food pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution commending Second Harvest and other food banks around the country who do such a wonderful job in providing essential assistance to people who need it. I am thankful each and every day that they are able to provide help to hungry people, as are the people who receive the food.

As the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Agricultural Appropriations, I have been torn over the level of funding we provide for our many food assistance programs. I am happy that we are able to provide as much funding as we do, while recognizing that there are still are other programs like WIC, Commodity Supplemental Feeding, and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, that could still use more.

I am unhappy about the growth in these food programs because they are supposed to be countercyclical. If our funding levels are high, then it means many among us, including many who have full time jobs, are not doing well economically. They need these food programs to help make ends meet.

Consider the following: In fiscal 2001, we provided $20.1 billion for Food Stamps. In the fiscal 2005 bill approved by the House in July, we included $33.6 billion, an increase of 67 percent in that one program. Do the additional 5.8 million program receiving these benefits think they are better off than they were four years ago?

According to testimony provided by USDA, in 2002, 47 percent of all infants born in the nation--1.9 million out of 4.1 million--were receiving benefits under the WIC program. What happened to meaningful jobs for their parents?

Last year the Toledo Blade reported of cases in which the families of individuals called up for active National Guard or Military Reserve Duty had to seek assistance from the WIC program because of lost family income. This is taking care of our servicemen and women and their families?

A population survey from the Census Bureau found that 12.1 percent of Ohioans were living in poverty in 2003, up from 11 percent in 2001. There is definitely a connection between increases in poverty and the thousands of jobs that have been lost in Ohio since 2001;

In 2003, the Toledo-Northwest Ohio Food Bank reported that food pantries and soup kitchens in the area served 28,000 households. By the end of June of this year, this number increased to 40,000 households. People who in past years had donated to food banks are now becoming recipients.

Local grocery stores had been generous in their support of food banks in prior years, but because of local closures and consolidations, the food banks are finding that the donations they are receiving are down while the need for the program has increased.

As a nation, while we support these programs of assistance because it is the right thing to do, no one should ignore the fact that there are reasons why people are on these programs. America needs more jobs that pay a living wage. America needs an increase in the minimum wage to be sure that families can live in dignity, not in despair. America needs to end the harsh choices we expect too many young families and too many elderly to make--do they pay the rent, pay for utilities, pay for health care, or leave money for food?

America, frankly, needs better days than we have seen for the past four years.

I ask unanimous consent to include at this point in the Record an article from the October 3rd issue of the Toledo Blade, entitled ``Ranks of Area's `Invisible' Poor are Increasing''.

[From the Toledo Blade, Oct. 3, 2004]

Ranks of Area's ``Invisible'' Poor are Increasing

More Ohio, Michigan residents are living on the edge than ever

(By Karamagi Rujumba)

Gary Robertson was laid off from his warehouse job eight

months ago. With no steady income and the bills piling up, he

soon lost his apartment. A couple of friends put him up for a

while, but that didn't last for long. So one day, he was

finally forced to do something he never imagined: He spent a

night at a men's homeless shelter at the Cherry Street

Mission. ``I was homeless and that was hard for me to accept.

I had never been to a food pantry or a shelter,'' said Mr.

Robertson, a native of Alabama who moved to Findlay 17 years

ago and got a job at an area warehouse. ``I was doing well

until I lost my job,'' Mr. Robertson said. He came to Toledo

hoping for better luck in a larger city, but has since failed

to find a regular job here. He has been working odd jobs to

make his portion of the rent for an apartment he shares. When

he needs food, he goes to the Cherry Street Mission's food

pantry. Mr. Robertson is far from alone.

``We are seeing an increasing number of people who rely on

pantries and soup kitchens, especially this year,'' said Lisa

Hamler-Podolski, the executive director of the Ohio

Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, a Columbus-based

agency that donates food to food banks across the state. A

U.S. Census Bureau report released last month confirmed what

many volunteers at area food pantries and soup kitchens have

known for a long time--that more people in Ohio and Michigan

live in poverty today than in past years.

Area Census figures

Poverty is defined in terms of family size and income. For

2003, the Census Bureau reported that a family of four living

on a total annual income of $18,810 or less is considered to

be in poverty. And statistical benchmarks show poverty is on

the rise in Toledo, Ohio, and Michigan: In the last Census

report, Toledo was ranked eighth among cities that have the

highest number of children living in poverty. A recent

population survey from the Census Bureau found that 12.1

percent of Ohioans were living in poverty in 2003, up from

11.9 percent in 2002, and 11 percent in 2001. In Michigan,

11.4 percent of the population was living in poverty last

year, compared to 11.6 percent in 2002 and 9.4 percent in

2001. In 2003, the Toledo-Northwest Ohio Food Bank, Inc.,

reported that the various food pantries and soup kitchens to

which it distributed served 28,000 households. By the end of

the first six months of 2004, the same pantries and kitchens

reported that 40,000 households were dependent on their

services.

``The people we are talking about appear to be invisible,

but you see them everyday. They serve you at restaurants,

take care of your parents in nursing homes, and make your

beds in hotels,'' Ms. Hamler-Podolski said. ``They are the

new poor. People who have always had jobs and now, due to

plant closings and downsizing, find themselves struggling to

put food on the table.''

Demand high at pantries

Julie Chase Morefield, the director of marketing and

operations at the Toledo-Northwest Ohio Food Bank, agreed.

``The demand at area pantries and kitchens is way up and it

has been a problem finding enough food to distribute,'' she

said. Her agency serves 330 pantries and soup kitchens in

eight northwest Ohio counties, including Lucas, Defiance,

Fulton, Henry, Ottawa, Sandusky, Williams, and Wood counties.

``It is worse than we have ever seen it. We've never really

seen numbers this high,'' Ms. Morefield said. ``There are a

lot of people out there who are really struggling.''

John Urban, a retired vacuum cleaner salesman is one of

them. Standing in line for a food bag at the Helping Hands of

Saint Louis pantry in East Toledo one recent Tuesday morning,

Mr. Urban said his Social Security income of $900 a month no

longer was enough to sustain him. ``I come here once a month

and they give me enough food to last a couple of weeks,''

said the 64-year-old, who was born on the city's east side.

After showing his proof of residence and income, Mr. Urban

was handed a brown bag stuffed with loaves of bread, bagels,

macaroni, spaghetti sauce, several cans of soup, and powdered

milk.

The line at the pantry on this particular morning was not

very long. That is because it was the beginning of the month,

said Linda Lupien, the director of Helping Hands. ``The

middle and the end of the month are usually very tough

because that's when people run out of money,'' Ms. Lupien

said. ``We are seeing new faces every day and people who are

hitting the pantry line because they simply cannot make it

anymore.''

Al Baumann, a retired pastor at Saint Mark's Lutheran

Church in East Toledo, is the director of the Toledo Area

Council of Churches, which runs the Feed Your Neighbor

program. ``There are a lot more people in Toledo who rely on

food donations. You see them everyday, but you just don't

know it,'' Mr. Baumann said. ``We serve more than 30,000

families a year through our program.'' Feed Your Neighbor is

a food voucher system involving 12 Toledo churches that was

started in 1975, when the council of churches

started distributing emergency food supplies because of the

drastic economic downturn of the 1970s. While the current

economic climate is not as dire, Mr. Baumann said the number

of people in need of food is growing every month. ``We're

finding more people, even in the suburbs, who can no longer

make ends meet,'' he said. ``A lot of people are not aware of

the economic hardships their neighbors might be experiencing

because of the way that we are economically segregated as a

society.''

Cutting food stamps

Drastic cuts in federal government subsidies to food stamp

and similar programs serving the poor is another reason that

more people are lining up at food pantries, Mr. Baumann

said. According to the Lucas County Department of Jobs and

Family Services, there are now 27,784 households receiving

food stamps and 4,574 families on cash assistance through

the Ohio Works First program. The county has seen a steady

increase in the number of people seeking cash and food

assistance, said Cindy Ginter, the program manager at

Lucas County's Department of Jobs and Family Services. In

2003, the county had 25,286 households on food-stamp rolls

and 3,736 families on cash assistance.

``We would like to not have seen this kind of increase, but

because of the economy, the numbers just keep increasing,''

Ms. Ginter said. The sluggish economy also is cited by the

county's Women, Infants, and Children program for the record

number of low-income earning families that depend on its

services, said Tom Kuhn, the agency's director. In 1999, WIC,

an agency of the Ohio Department of Health's Bureau of

Nutrition Services, served 12,326 families in the county.

This year, that number has jumped to more than 15,000

families. ``The numbers have been steadily rising, but this

is the highest they have ever been,'' Mr. Kuhn said.

Sheldon Danziger, a professor of public policy at the

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of

Michigan, said the federal and state governments are not

doing enough to stave the rising numbers of people living in

poverty.

The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services came under

fire last week because $431 million in federally-allocated

funds have been sitting unused for months in the state's

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families account. Director Tom

Hayes confirmed the funds are being held while the state and

counties design programs to spend the money.

Economic problems

Mr. Danziger argued that it isn't because of a failure of

antipoverty programs that poverty has remained high for

Americans since the 1970s. He said it's because the economy

has not delivered the benefits of prosperity to all workers,

and because politicians and the public have lost faith in the

ability of government to deal with the problem of poverty.

``Wage stagnation is one of the reasons that we still see

people lining up at food pantries,'' Mr. Danziger said.

``Since the 1990s, labor market changes have meant that

workers with a high school education or less have had wage

rates that have not grown relative to the rate of

inflation.'' He said the government has failed to implement

public policies like a higher minimum wage adjusted for

inflation, which would be the quickest way to help people who

are struggling. The last time the minimum wage was adjusted

was in 1997, when it was raised to $5.15 per hour. If it were

to be adjusted to current inflation, the professor said, the

minimum wage would be $6.10 per hour.

Global poverty increase

Mr. Danziger said the gap between the rich and poor is not

only increasing here, but in many developing nations of the

world where more than a billion people continue to face

extreme poverty. According to a report released by the World

Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization in

February, more than a billion people lived on less than $1

per day in 2000. The commission, which was established in

2002 by the International Labor Organization, a United

Nations agency, reported the gap between the richest and

poorest countries has widened dramatically in the past four

decades. In the U.S., increasing unemployment benefits and

implementing more tax credit programs for low-wage earners

would be a critical step in helping the unemployed get back

on their feet, Mr. Danziger said. According to the Center on

Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank, 17

States and the District of Columbia so far have enacted

earned income tax credits for low income residents, which

supplement the federal government credits.

Ohio and Michigan, however, are not among them.

These tax credits, Mr. Danziger argued, go a long way in

meeting day-to-day expenses for low-wage earners. George

Garcia, a Toledo truck driver, said he could have used some

help when he almost lost his house after breaking both his

legs in an accident that left him unemployed for more than

six months. ``I was down to the last week and $1,500 behind

on my mortgage. I had to tell the children that we were about

to lose our home,'' said the 39-year-old father of three.

After borrowing from several friends, he kept the family's

home. But because he had no health insurance, he spent all

his money on medical bills and had to turn to the Cherry

Street pantry for food. ``The pantry was great. I always got

enough food and when I took it home, it was like I had just

come from the grocery store,'' he said. Though he now makes

enough to support his family most of the time, Mr. Garcia

acknowledged that ``every now and then, I have to go to the

pantry to get by.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I again stand in support of the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), as he testifies before the Committee on Rules on behalf of his amendment that would allow disaster assistance similar to that passed by the Senate to be considered by the House tomorrow.

I think it is very important for people to know that this bill is of critical importance to the district the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) has represented so well for so long. They have had catastrophic losses from drought in 2003. And while there are some discussions percolating about a disaster bill for 2004, we know there was no disaster response for the losses suffered by farmers in 2003.

The Senate saw fit to take care of that, and in their bill, 2003 is provided for. That amendment by the Senate sits in conference committee on the homeland security bill right now. That is why I was so pleased to see the Stenholm proposal come forward today, the proposal that would allow a farmer to choose whether the 2003 or 2004 losses would be covered under the bill, and in all other respects mirrors the $3 billion package that the Senate advanced.

I am pleased that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) is up in the Committee on Rules right now, and I am also pleased on his behalf to then read the statement that he would have been prepared to give on behalf of this legislation: ``Mr. Speaker, I rise in full support of H. Res. 261. This resolution

expresses congressional support for the vitally important work carried out by organizations such as America's Second Harvest in ensuring that needy Americans do not suffer from the pangs of hunger.

``In addition, it also encourages all Americans to provide volunteer services and other support for local anti-hunger advocacy efforts and hunger relief charities, including food banks, food rescue organizations, food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters.

``I have long been associated with the work of America's Second Harvest and, in particular, with the efforts of its member food banks, the South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock and the Food Bank of Abilene.''

Remember, these are the words the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) was prepared to deliver as he represents his district. I am more familiar with the food banks in Fargo and Bismarck.

Resuming the statement of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), ``It is crucial that Congress take time to acknowledge the hard work of more than 1 million volunteers who strive to feed over 23 million needy Americans each year. These volunteers provide this necessary assistance in every community, large and small, rural and urban, across the United States. I wholeheartedly encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.''

That concludes the statement that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) was prepared to make. I would add my own comments.

What we are seeing is an unprecedented demand on food shelters, not just in Abilene, not just in Lubbock, but all across this country. There is something happening in this economy. Regardless of what the macrostatistics may tell you, there is a growing demand on our food banks.

Now, I think that there are any number of economic indicators in this country, but one that deeply alarms me is this draw on the food banks.

This is truly the last stop for people who cannot feed their families.

When we have this draw on our food banks, we know that something terrible is going wrong in terms of the middle-income folks slipping into ever-greater problems in making ends meet; and the lower incomes below that, falling short of such critical necessities as being able to buy their groceries. That is why they are showing up at these food shelters.

So I appreciate this resolution and I appreciate the support of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), I appreciate the support of the chairman; and I urge adoption of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I want to thank my good friend, Mr. Wolf, for sponsoring this resolution and for his leadership in the fight to end hunger here in the United States and around the world.

I also want to thank Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Stenholm, and the members of the Agriculture Committee for moving this resolution forward for consideration by the full House.

I rise in support of H. Res. 261. America's Second harvest, the food banks that operate across the country, and the volunteers who help provide assistance at these organizations deserve to be recognized and thanked for their diligence and hard work in combating hunger in America.

Mr. Speaker, I believe hunger is a political problem. There is no reason people--both here at home and around the world--should go without food. America is known as a country of plenty, and it is shameful that our prosperous nation still has children, veterans, seniors, and other individuals and families who simply do not know from day to day whether they will have enough to eat.

The system of food banks throughout the United States provides a safety net where individuals and families can go to get a meal when they really need one. In my own congressional district and hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, the Worcester County Food Bank provides this invaluable service to the people of Central Massachusetts. Jean McMurray, the executive director of the Food Bank, helps provide food for soup kitchens and food pantries throughout Worcester County.

The food bank also runs and operates a kitchen where they prepare food for soup

kitchens and train people in food service and food preparation skills in order to find good-paying jobs. These are excellent programs and an excellent food bank, and I am so very pleasing that this resolution recognizes and honors the work of Jean McMurray, her staff and their counterparts across the country.

Mr. Speaker, our food banks are stretched thin. Every day they are called upon to provide more and more assistance. Sadly, more people go without food every day in our country, and the safety net provided by these food banks, the assistance that help the food insecure escape starvation, is strained to the breaking point.

As Co-Chair of the Congressional Hunger Center, I have worked closely with America's Second Harvest and local food banks. The Congressional Hunger Center, dedicated to training tomorrow's leaders in the fight against hunger, places Emerson Trust Fellows in food banks and other anti-hunger organizations across the country so that they may see and learn first-hand from the work carried out by these groups.

Mr. Speaker, like my colleague Mr. Wolf, I am committed to ending hunger in America. We have a blueprint researched and developed by the Alliance to End Hunger on how Congress and the American people, working together, can achieve that goal. This resolution honors many of the groups and individuals who are on the front lines of that battle, and I thank Congressman Wolf once again for his leadership. I hope passage of this resolution will help energize this body to make a full commitment to ending hunger in America once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and Virginia colleague, Chairman Goodlatte for recognizing the importance of this resolution.

The resolution recognizes organizations such as America's Second Harvest that provide emergency food assistance to hungry people in the United States, and encourages all Americans to provide volunteer services and other support for local anti-hunger advocacy efforts and hunger relief charities, including food banks, food rescue organizations, food pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. I hope it will help draw attention to the problem of hunger in America today.

I have mixed emotions today--proud of the armies of compassion that are represented by organizations such as America's Second Harvest and sad because its been 40 years since President Johnson declared war on poverty and hunger . . . and yet, today, 13 million kids still live in households that do not have an adequate supply of food.

I am pleased that the House is considering this resolution which will help draw attention to this silent tragedy. In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about the obligation to feed the hungry. In a world, and especially a nation, as plentiful as ours--it is tragic that even one child faces food insecurity.

My state of Virginia is better off than many states. We are below the national average poverty rate of 11.6 percent. We have fewer people who don't have food--7.6 percent versus the national average of 10.4 percent. Yet, hunger is still here.

Substantial progress has been made to feed the hungry in the United States, yet too many Americans still go to bed hungry and feel the effects of food deprivation. Federal programs like the Food Stamp Program, child nutrition programs, and food donation programs, provide essential nutritional support to millions of low-income people, but the need remains.

Thankfully, community- and faith-based institutions are providing assistance to hungry people across the country. The armies of compassion are working hard, but we each must do our part to join in and support them.

We need to eliminate the barriers that many businesses must overcome when they decide to do the morally conscionable thing and donate their surplus goods. It's outrageous that it is more ``cost effective'' for a business to throw out or destroy surplus food rather than donate it to a local soup kitchen.

I hope that in the midst of the facts and statistics, no one misses the point of this resolution--that in a land of plenty, 13 million children still go to bed hungry. A country which is as blessed as ours needs to do better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 261, to support the efforts of food-assistance organizations and charities in providing food to the nation's families. This resolution encourages Americans to volunteer services to local anti-hunger advocacy groups and food-assistance providers, food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.

Too many children and their families go hungry every day in a country that every year exports more than $56 billion worth of food around the world. More than 35 million Americans face hunger. Of these, 13 million are children. Chronic food insecurity remains a hard fact of life for thousands of Minnesotans.

Food-assistance organizations and food banks help our neighbors get enough food to keep them healthy. Seniors and working families are making impossible choices every day between heating their homes and buying their groceries. Seniors debate between whether to purchase prescription drugs or to buy food. Families choose between finding an affordable place to live and putting food on the table. These choices are simply unacceptable.

I am proud of the work of the food banks and food-assistance organizations in my district. Every year they help thousands of Minnesota families meet their nutritional needs. Groups like Second Harvest Heartland and its statewide network of 849 agencies distribute every year over 27 million pounds of food.

Second Harvest Heartland is leading the forces in Minnesota to fight hunger. When I visited them last year I saw first hand how they provide nutritious snacks and meals to kids during the summer and to after- school enrichment programs. They reiterated for me how they and food banks around the state distribute millions of pounds of food to families and provide nutrition education to mothers and children every year.

Unfortunately, their services are increasingly needed due to President Bush's jobs deficit. Between March 2001 and September 2003, 37 of 41 Minnesota counties served by Second Harvest Heartland saw an increase in new food support applications. Statewide, the demand for food support increased 10.2 percent.

Minnesota has a long, rich tradition of caring for those in need. Food-assistance organizations and food banks in Minnesota truly represent this heritage of compassion.

I am proud to support H. Res. 261 and honor Second Harvest Heartland and all organizations providing food to those in need. I hope my colleagues join me in supporting it as well.