Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025

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

Mr. Speaker, today, we are considering S. 222, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025.

School meals play a critical role in reducing child hunger and providing children with the healthy food they need in this country. Milk offered as part of these meals can deliver essential nutrients that are central to a child's development. That is why it is important that students be provided with the most nutritional options.

Child nutrition standards for school meals, including milk options, are guided by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, DGAs, which are periodically updated based on recommendations from child nutrition experts and public input.

The latest DGAs, supported by the American Heart Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and over a dozen other public health advocate organizations, agree that fat-free and low-fat milk are the healthiest options for children.

The DGAs must follow the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's evidence-based recommendations to maintain current limits on saturated fat, sugars, and sodium. Simply put, nutrition standards must be guided by scientists, not politicians and industry lobbyists. If there is a controversy, that should be debated at meetings of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, not with a group of politicians.

S. 222, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025, disregards evidence-based recommendations by removing the statutory requirement that milk options served must align with the DGAs and exempts the saturated fat found in milk from the total regulatory limits on saturated fat in school meals. This would allow schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to serve dietary options, such as whole milk, that do not align with the current science-based recommendations, which protect children's health.

For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, the bill should be defeated.

I do recognize, however, that there are some improvements to existing law in the bill, including better options for students seeking a non- dairy alternative. Schools will now have an easier process to serve nutritionally equivalent, nondairy beverages, such as soy milk, and provide that they may be served in the regular lunch line. Increasing access to plant-based meals and beverages in the lunchroom is a goal everyone should be able to support. However, this is not enough of an improvement, considering the bill's other shortcomings.

Whole milk contains far more saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories than fat-free and low-fat milk. Experts agree that saturated fat from whole milk increases the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in this country.

In fact, the majority of Americans consume too much saturated fat. More than 80 percent of the U.S. population exceeds the recommended limit. This bill needlessly inserts politics into what should be a science-based process, to the detriment of our children's health.

The Trump administration has demonstrated time and time again its disregard for public health and evidence-based interventions, and these revisions to the DGAs in this bill will have the same disregard for following the evidence. However, hopefully, future administrations will recommit to science and the decades of nutritional guidance that ensure children will receive the healthiest meals possible.

Mr. Speaker, I am also disappointed by the majority's decision to depart from precedent by moving a limited child nutrition bill outside of a comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization.

More to the point, this is the only piece of legislation that our committee has considered this year that amends laws governing child nutrition programs.

We have considered no bills that improve access to free school meals; no bills to improve the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, the WIC program; no bills to improve options for summer food programs; no bills to improve the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and no bills to address the need for healthy meals after the school day is over.

The majority did, however, choose to advance that big, ugly bill which contains Medicaid and SNAP cuts, which will result in a drastic reduction in the number of students eligible for free school meals.

Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I oppose the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, as earlier noted, S. 222 does make some improvements to the whole milk debate with its inclusion of better options for students seeking nondairy alternatives. The gentleman from Louisiana spoke to those provisions, and that is something that is supported by our Nation's nutritionists, pediatricians, and scientists.

However, I remain disappointed that the bill overall makes school meals less healthy. This bill goes against the dairy industry's stated commitment to ensure that students have access to the healthiest dairy options consistent with the DGAs. The DGAs make clear that fat-free and low-fat milk are the healthiest options for children 2 years and older. Whole milk contains far more saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories than fat-free and low-fat milk.

In a nation where the obesity rate among children is over 16 percent and the children are already facing obesity-related challenges such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, we should not ignore the stance of dieticians, nutritionists, pediatricians, and the overall science.

Mr. Speaker, I am committed to ensuring that students have access to the healthiest dairy options in accordance with science-backed guidelines, but S. 222 contradicts that commitment by interfering with the independent process that aligns child nutrition standards with the latest science.

Furthermore, let me just point out that after months of Republican- led political brinksmanship, we are still considering a bill that does nothing meaningful to address childhood obesity, nutrition, or hunger.

The bottom line is that Members of Congress should not inject politics into child nutrition standards at the expense of nutritious school meals that our children need.

For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose S. 222, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 222) to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the school lunch program to serve whole milk, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 222.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill near and dear to my heart, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025.

My legislation will allow for unflavored and flavored whole, reduced- fat, or 2 percent milk to be offered in school cafeterias, giving our

students the option to choose the milk that they want to drink.

Milk is an essential building block for a well-rounded and balanced diet, offering 13 essential nutrients and numerous health benefits.

Unfortunately, out-of-touch and outdated Federal regulations have imposed restrictions on the types of milk students have access to in school meals. While the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act's intention to reduce child obesity was good, its impacts to attack whole milk have been misguided and devastating over the 15 years since its passage, resulting in the loss of an entire generation of milk drinkers.

It has always been a myth that whole milk causes weight gain. The beverage is 97 percent fat-free, and it is the least processed type of milk. Common sense tells us that whole milk is not the culprit of childhood obesity. Instead, milk is the number one source of protein for kids ages 2 to 11. Milk is also the top source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D for children ages 2 to 18.

Medical research has proven that whole milk has several benefits, such as strong bone density, a healthier immune system, reduced cardiovascular risk, lowered blood pressure, reduced hunger cravings, reduced type 2 diabetes risk, and increased sleep quality.

Additionally, children are not consuming the amount of dairy recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and are not getting these important benefits and nutrients. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee reported that over two-thirds of school-age children fail to meet the recommended levels of dairy. Rather than drinking milk they didn't like, students are throwing it away and losing out on the 21 essential minerals and 13 vitamins necessary for healthy development.

School nutrition programs provide critical access to the nutrients growing children need, including those provided by milk. In fact, school meals provide 77 percent of the total daily milk consumption for low-income children ages 5 to 18.

In addition, it is also important to remember that this legislation does not require any student to drink or any school to serve whole milk. Rather, this legislation simply gives schools the flexibility to serve a broader variety of milk in the school lunchroom.

Dairy farmers in Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District and across our country work hard every day to produce nutritious milk for our families and communities.

I am proud to lead this legislation that would allow schools to serve flavored and unflavored whole and reduced-fat milk in school cafeterias. Today, we will restore students' access to a wide variety of milk options, ensuring students have the necessary nutrients to learn and grow.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Finstad), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the State of Washington (Mr. Newhouse).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Moolenaar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), who is a physician.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

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

Mr. Speaker, I have proudly led this charge to restore whole milk in school milk programs for the last decade.

I am grateful to those who played a role in this effort, including the House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg and former Chairwoman Virginia Foxx; my co-lead, Congresswoman Kim Schrier, who is a pediatrician; my Senate companion co-leads, Senators Roger Marshall, Peter Welch, Dave McCormick, and John Fetterman; my staff in my personal office and on the House Agriculture Committee, who have worked tirelessly to advance this bill every step of the way, especially my legislative director, Faith Tuttle.

I also thank the National Milk Producers Federation, and in particular Paul Bleiberg; the International Dairy Foods Association; the Farm Bureau; the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; and the most dedicated grassroots movement in America, 97 Milk, including the leadership of Bernie Morrissey and Sherry Bunting, Nelson Troutman, Krista Byler, Christine Ebersole, Dr. Edward Silverman, and a host of parents and dairy farmers. I thank each and every one of these individuals who

put their mark on this bill in a meaningful way.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this legislation and drink whole milk.

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

Mr. President, before I start talking today, I just want to pause for a moment to take a quick drink of the most nutritious, delicious drink known to humankind. So here is to healthy bones and here is to all the hard-working dairy farmers across Kansas and across America.

This summer, the Senate Agriculture Committee worked together to pass this legislation through the committee on a bipartisan basis. Special thanks to our chairman and to our ranking member for working on this with us.

This bill will allow for whole and reduced milk, as well as nutritionally equivalent nondairy options, to be served in schools. This corrects a decades-old policy made here in Congress that consequently created over 10 years of kids without having access to whole milk in schools and, indeed, created a whole generation of young Americans with weak bones.

Passing the Whole Milk for Health Kids Act through the Senate is a huge win for schools, for students, for parents, and for American dairy farmers. We are giving students more choices, schools more flexibility, and ensuring a brighter future for our farmers.

Whole milk delivers 13 essential nutrients and has enough fat content to help students absorb vitamins like A, D, E, and K. It is also packed with protein that helps keep the student full all the way through those long afternoon math classes and then on through gym and on through their sports activities, until they get home at night for dinner. Simply put, it is one of the healthiest--it is the healthiest--option in the cafeteria.

Bringing whole milk and nutritionally equivalent beverages to schools would help fight early onset osteoporosis, osteopenia, and other diet- related diseases by providing students with critical nutrients-- nutrients like calcium, potassium, and vitamin D--that we are all lacking today.

It strengthens bones. It helps your immune system. It builds healthy habits, and it tastes great.

As the grandson of a dairy farmer, as an OB-GYN for over 30 years, it may seem like I am a bit biased, but I assure you this legislation is a slam-dunk solution for our Nation.

Of course, there is always room to improve our public health, and I look forward to working with our colleagues who, I understand, also have a few thoughts on this legislation.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, before we wrap up this Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, I just want to go back over a couple things as well. Senator Welch, it is always a pleasure to work with you. Whether we are trying to connect high-speed internet or give milk to schools, it is always a joy. I appreciate your hard work and greatly appreciate your staff and my staff as well. I think our staff never gets enough credit. They did all the heavy lifting--the chairman and ranking member, of course, and their staff, and the Ag Committee's staff as well.

Senator Alsobrooks, thank you so much for coming down this morning and educating me on this disability issue as well. And I see the Senator from New Mexico Mr. Lujan is here as well and is also engaged in this effort, and we appreciate his support and many, many, many others.

So a big thanks. This has been a multiyear process for my staff, a personal goal. I was raised on whole milk. I didn't know there was anything except whole milk, and I always wondered why all of a sudden our youth weren't drinking any milk.

And just many of us prefer the taste of it, and guess what, nutritionally, I think it has some really great qualities as well.

Mr. President, I would like to ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 111, S. 222.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague the Senator from Kansas, and I wanted to join him in drinking a glass of whole milk. My only regret is it is not Vermont milk, but I have got to tell you the best milk is made in Vermont.

Thank you very much.

As the Senator was saying, this is a very serious thing in two ways. No. 1, we have to have good nutrition for our kids, and the Senator from Kansas has outlined why milk is so good.

Of course, I remember growing up and going to grammar school, and I looked forward to milk. We had milk breaks, and it made a difference to pay attention in those afternoon classes and to be active in your sports activities right after that.

The second reason is that the dairy farming industry is not so much an industry as it is a way of life, and in Vermont, the hardest working people we have are our dairy farmers. It is a hard, hard job, but it is one where families have done it from generation to generation.

There is enormous pride in being custodians of the landscape and caring for the animals and the herd, and in providing nutritious milk for the community. And there is a lot of pressure on our farmers. This whole milk bill is an acknowledgment of the extraordinary contribution that the dairy farmers in the State of Vermont make to the entire State of Vermont and that the dairy farmers in America make to all of America, including, of course, those wonderful dairy farmers in the great State of Kansas.

Now, on this bill, we have had incredible cooperation from our Senators, who have raised a very important concern: Some people are lactose intolerant. They can't drink milk. And the way the legislation was written--but, actually, because of something that went back to the Truman years--there is some suggestion that is a disability.

I want to thank Senator Alsobrooks, who is here, for bringing this to our attention, along with Senator Warnock, in working with us to try to get through this so that there is no question about this being a ``disability.'' This is about folks who can drink milk having access to milk, and it is about honoring our dairy farmers for the work that they do.

I am really happy to be here with my colleague. I understand Senator Alsobrooks may have some questions, and I will yield to her for that purpose.

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Alsobrooks, as usual she is right, and there are two points. One is we want to make certain that the parents have the ability, on behalf of their children, to choose an alternative that is best for their kids. So this is not about forcing people to drink milk or depriving parents of the responsibility and power they have to make certain that their kids are healthy. So thank you so much, Senator Alsobrooks, for that.

And then, secondly, the lactose intolerance point the Senator makes is valid, and that is why I am enthusiastically looking forward to working with her, so we make certain there is no stigma associated with a person who is lactose intolerant.

So thank you so much for your cooperation on this, Senator, and you have my commitment to work with you to try to resolve what is an anomaly and shouldn't be there.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, as amended by the Senate, which allows for plant-based milk alternatives to be more easily and readily available for children with lactose intolerance.

This is especially important because the rates of some degree of lactose intolerance in minority communities are startlingly high, more than most people would realize, with approximately 65 percent of Latino students, 75 percent of Black students, 90 percent of Asian students unable to digest dairy milk without detrimental effects.

This portion does, in fact, follow the science. These statistics are real, and they are played out every single day in the classroom.

Not long ago, I had a young lady from Louisiana, a precious little baby girl, who had a horrible accident because the teacher would not allow her to go to the restroom again after complaining of a tummy ache. Unfortunately, this did not end well for this student. She is a beautiful child. She has rebounded wonderfully, and she will be happy to know that going forward she will have an alternative. She doesn't have to contend with her belly aching after consuming something her body simply couldn't digest. Because the school offered no alternative, it was this or nothing. As you know, in many cases, our young people will get nothing if they don't enjoy some nutritional values at school.

Many children may not make the connection between consumption of milk and their feelings of discomfort and even illness. Lactose intolerance causes a range of health effects including stomach pain, severe bloating, gas, diarrhea, and even exacerbated asthma symptoms. These symptoms can hinder a child's ability to concentrate in the classroom, to perform in the classroom, to be attentive in the classroom, and to learn in the classroom.

We should do everything in our power to make sure our children have the best opportunity to concentrate, to learn, to do well, and to be healthy in the classroom.

Currently, children who suffer adverse reactions from traditional milk must produce a doctor's note to receive an alternative beverage, which places an unfair burden squarely on minority children, children of working parents, children whose parents simply don't have the time or the ability, because of the healthcare system crisis, to even see a doctor, let alone get a note from a doctor.

This bill fixes that issue. It contains a provision from bipartisan legislation I filed in each of the last three Congresses to remove the doctor's note requirement for receiving milk alternatives. This bill folds in those measures from my previously filed bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan reform that will allow our children to receive the nutrition they need to feel healthy and have successful lives in and out of school.

While I understand that this bill may not capture every need that is out there--I concede to our ranking member, who I respect greatly, that we have much work to do. However, this bill goes a long way to fix an issue that can simply not wait any longer to be addressed. I urge support for this measure.