Miller: Republicans Put Special Interests Ahead of Children’s Health
WASHINGTON—Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement today after Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee passed an agriculture spending bill that will allow schools to opt out of standards requiring that students across the country receive healthy school meals. Rep. Miller was the original sponsor of the House version of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which made the nutrition requirements law in 2010.
The legislation passed by the House Appropriations Committee also makes white potatoes eligible for purchase under the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program, despite the fact that white potatoes are already consumed in substantial quantities by WIC recipients and have weak nutritional value.
“With today’s vote, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee have reneged on our responsibility to children all across the country and to the millions of families who rely on federal child nutrition programs as a nutritional safety net. It’s a shame that the GOP has kowtowed to industry-funded lobbyists to roll back vital nutrition standards for kids so that wealthy special interests can capture more federal tax dollars. Today’s vote puts those special interests above our children’s health and well-being. But it’s not the last vote, and I hope to see changes in the final legislation.”
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