Expressing the sense of the Congress that the tax give away since 2001 to the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans should be repealed and those monies instead invested in vital programs to relieve the growing burden on the working poor and to alleviate poverty in America.

Last year, and I guess also nearly 2 years ago, and really for many of our lives, we have known that there is a poverty crisis in America, which is growing. I think what we saw after the terrible hurricanes was that this gap, of course, is widening between the haves and the have-nots, and it is not only in the gulf coast region, it is throughout our country.

While the hurricanes, especially Hurricane Katrina, exposed the disparity for all to see, the fact is, poverty is not just isolated to the gulf coast; it does exist throughout our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the fact and to remind the country that our land really should be a land of opportunity, but the sad reality is that income inequality continues to grow, and more people are falling into poverty than getting ahead. We are heading in the wrong direction, and we need a national commitment to address the growing poverty crisis in the Nation. That is why this week's release of a report by the Center for American Progress entitled, ``From Poverty to Prosperity'', a national strategy to cut poverty in half, this is a significant contribution to the efforts of antipoverty activists, and it is a valuable roadmap for concerned lawmakers, like all of us are.

The report found that not only is poverty in the United States bad, it's getting worse. Just consider the fact that over 37 million Americans, more than the population of my home State, are in poverty, and the number has grown by 5 million since the Bush administration took office. One in eight Americans now live in poverty. Poverty in the United States is far higher than in many other developed nations, and poverty and inequality, of course, here is at an all-time high.

The richest 1 percent of Americans in 2005 held the largest share of the Nation's income since 1929, and at the same time, the poorest 20 percent held only 3.4 percent of the Nation's income.

The report's recommendations are based on four principles: promoting decent work, promoting opportunity for all; ensuring economic security; and helping people build wealth. Based on these principles, the report offered 12 steps, which include raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation, expanding the earned income and children's tax credits, promoting unionization by making it easier for employees to vote to join a union, offering child care assistance for low-income families, guaranteeing early education for all, and providing 2 million people with opportunity housing vouchers.

Madam Speaker, you may have noticed that the new Democratic Congress has taken steps toward enacting these recommendations. Additionally, many of my colleagues have been advocating for related poverty alleviation issues and ideas and strategies through the Out-of-Poverty Caucus that I founded, along with my colleagues, Congressman John Conyers, Congressman Butterfield, Congressman Mike Honda, and Congressman Joe Baca.

In the same vein, I have also introduced a comprehensive package of poverty elimination legislation. These three bills are designed to create leadership, accountability, and the national reevaluation of our economic priorities and developing policies to eliminate poverty in our Nation.

The first bill, H. Con. Res 19, calls on President Bush to submit to Congress a plan, this is just a plan, mind you, to eradicate poverty by 2015.

The second bill, H. Con. Res 10, requires accountability from Congress by requiring the Congressional Budget Office to report the poverty impact of legislation pending before Congress similar to environmental impact statements.

The final bill, H.R. 352, demands a reevaluation of our priorities by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest 5 percent and dedicating the funds to poverty elimination programs.

Madam Speaker, fighting poverty really isn't a mystery, it's just not a priority for us, and it's time to make it a national priority. It just requires us to make a commitment to the goal of eliminating poverty and then dedicate the resources to do that.

So I urge my colleagues to join me in this important fight by reading the report, first of all, and cosponsoring these bills and joining the Out-of-Poverty Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I thank so much the gentleman from Illinois for yielding.

I rise today to express my strong support for H. Res. 1013, which emphasizes

the importance of school breakfast programs and their positive impact on a child's overall academic performance.

Again, I would like to thank the Education and Labor Committee for bringing this resolution forward in honor of National School Breakfast Week.

Mr. Speaker, every 35 seconds a child is born into poverty in this country. A recent survey done by the Department of Agriculture reported the prevalence of persistent hunger among children in the United States to be about 18 percent. In fact, as a Nation, we've seen a steady increase in childhood poverty since 2000, and we're now at nearly 13 million poor children. This means that every year there's an increased need for child nutrition programs.

Children represent a disproportionate share of the poor, Mr. Speaker, in the United States. While children are only 25 percent of our total population, they represent 35 percent of the poor.

With increased energy costs, medical copayments, higher rents and mortgages, these children live in distressed families that have difficulty providing their children an adequate breakfast every day.

The National School Breakfast Program is one of the most important school nutrition programs because it provides children with the nutrients needed to get the school day off to a healthy start; and, indeed, the National School Breakfast Program serves as a critical safety net for America's poor.

In fiscal year 2006, 9.8 million students participated in the National School Breakfast Program, and a total of 1.7 billion breakfasts were served, 81 percent of which were free or at reduced prices.

This past year, my own State of Wisconsin saw the most significant increase in school breakfast participation with a 25.3 percent growth rate, and that is largely due to implementation of universal classroom breakfast in most of Milwaukee's public elementary schools.

School breakfasts under this program must meet the nutrition standards under the Dietary Guidelines for Americans which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fats. In addition, breakfasts must provide one-fourth of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, and calories.

A 2002 study done by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School concluded that children who are at nutritional risk have significantly poorer attendance, punctuality, and poorer grades.

The study also showed that children whose parents reported food insufficiency were more likely to have repeated a grade in school, lower scores on standardized tests, lower grades in math, and more days tardy and absent from school.

Studies have also shown that students who fail to eat an adequate breakfast increase their chances of becoming obese.

With the growing amount of uninsured children, we must work to establish and expand the National School Breakfast Program in all States.

So, in honor of National School Breakfast Week, I ask that you vote to pass this resolution.

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We also know that it's nearly impossible to learn on an empty stomach. These are two of the most important reasons why the school breakfast program is so important.

I'm pleased to be a cosponsor of this important resolution recognizing the importance of school breakfasts. I want to commend the gentlewoman from Wisconsin, Congresswoman Moore, for introducing this important resolution and I want to recognize and honor the members of the School Nutrition Association who are here in Washington, DC, this week for their national conference.

The school breakfast program allows qualified students to eat a meal at school for either free or for a reduced price. Together with the school lunch program and after school meal programs, the school breakfast program allows America's school-aged children to receive nutritious meals while at school.

Unfortunately, there are shortcomings in the school meal program that need to be addressed in the future.

One issue is the underfunding of summer feeding programs. The Federal Government does not fund summer meals at the same level as it funds meals delivered at school. Any child who receives a meal at school shouldn't have to go without a meal during the summer months simply because Congress doesn't properly fund that part of the program.

Another is obesity and nutritious foods. Obesity is a real crisis and we need to ensure that our children are eating the most nutritious foods available. School meals must meet rigorous nutritional standards and they should be consistent nationwide. We also have to be conscious about the rising cost of food and the impact of these rising costs on the school meal programs.

A third issue is the difference between free and reduced price meals. Unfortunately, some qualified children receive free meals at school while others must pay a portion of the meal price.

Finally, I want to express my strong support for school breakfast programs that begin when class starts, or ``at the bell.'' Most children who eat school breakfast must arrive at school before class starts. That can be both a hardship for the children and their families in trying to get them to school in time to eat. But it can also be a social stigma for these children who arrive early to eat because it's clear which children must arrive early to eat. We can eliminate that social stigma by serving school breakfasts at the bell.

The Child Nutrition Act will be reauthorized next year, and we will have an opportunity to make substantive improvements in these important school meal programs. But today, we are recognizing the importance of the school breakfast programs and honoring the people who administer and work on these programs in school districts across the country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1013, expressing the sense of the Congress that providing breakfast in schools through the National School Breakfast Program has a positive impact on classroom performance.

The National School Breakfast Program was created in 1966 to help schools serving breakfast to ``nutritionally needy'' children. Made permanent in 1975, the program focuses on those schools where assistance is needed to provide adequate nutrition for students.

The School Breakfast Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service through State education agencies, in agreement with local school food authorities, in nearly 84,000 schools and institutions.

In fiscal year 2006, over 9.7 million children participated in the School Breakfast Program daily. Of those, 7.9 million received their meals for free or at a reduced price. In my home State of Illinois, more than 223,000 students received free and reduced-price breakfasts daily.

Public or nonprofit private schools serving K-12 and public or nonprofit private residential child care institutions may participate in the School Breakfast Program. School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the breakfast program receive cash subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for each meal they serve. In return, they must serve breakfasts that meet Federal requirements, and they must offer free or reduced breakfasts to eligible children.

Many States that have implemented school breakfast programs have seen encouraging outcomes. Maryland has seen an increase in standardized test scores 17 percent above the State average, an 8 percent reduction in tardiness, and a reduction in referrals to the office for discipline by 20 percent.

Unfortunately, the problem persists that millions of children go to school hungry each day, even though breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The Federal child nutrition programs can offer a great deal in the promotion of nutrition and wellness, especially in terms of assisting those children most in need. That is why I stand in support of this resolution, encouraging every child to start the school day with a nutritious breakfast in order to learn, grow, and develop to their fullest potential.

I ask for my colleagues' support.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. So, if there are none on the other side, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1013) expressing the sense of Congress that providing breakfast in schools through the National School Breakfast Program has a positive impact on classroom performance.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for 5 legislative days during which Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 1013 into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she might consume to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1013, which expresses the sense of Congress that providing breakfast in school has a positive impact on classroom performance.

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Indeed, good nutrition is a vital factor in a child's ability to grow and thrive. According to the Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition, hungry children have less energy for cognitive and social activities, thereby hampering their ability to learn.

The National School Breakfast Program was established as a pilot program by the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and made permanent in 1975. The program was created to ensure that all students start the school day with a nutritious breakfast and enter the classroom ready to learn. Over the last five decades, the National School Breakfast Program has continued to grow. It now operates in nearly 84,000 public and nonprofit schools and residential care institutions nationwide. In 2006, 9.7 million children participated in the National School Breakfast Program each day; 7.9 million of those students received free or reduced-price breakfasts.

Again, I want to commend my colleague from Wisconsin, Representative Gwendolyn Moore, for introducing this resolution, join with all of those

who have expressed its merit, and urge passage.

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