Support the McGovern-Dole International School Feeding Program

Floor Speech

SUPPORT THE McGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM -- (House of Representatives - March 06, 2009)

(Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, there are over 900 million people on this planet who are hungry. Over 300 million of them are children. Of those children, about half do not go to school.

What we have learned over the years is if we introduce a meal in a school setting, more kids will go to school and more girls will go to school. We have learned that in some of the most volatile parts of the world, parents send their kids to schools that preach religious intolerance not because they want to have their kids learn that, but because they want their kids to eat, and those schools offer a meal.

Today, Madam Speaker, I and a number of others are sending a letter to Secretary Vilsack asking this administration to fully fund the George McGovern-Robert Dole International School Feeding Program. It is our moral obligation, Madam Speaker, to help feed the world's hungry. It is also in our national security interest.

I hope all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join with me in supporting the McGovern-Dole School Feeding Program.

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