Today, the committee turns its attention to our federal child nutrition programs, one of this committee’s most important priorities. We come to the hearing today with virtually a clean slate made possible by passage last year of the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act.  As many of you know, that legislation was passed almost unanimously by Congress, and contained many significant improvements and expansions.

 This hearing is something of a tradition as it coincides with ASFSA’s annual conference. So before we start, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the  members of the American School Food Service Associations with us today.  I understand that there are a number of conferees from my home state of Indiana, including Gale Knafel who is last year’s winner of the Richard G. Lugar Child Nutrition Award.  This award goes to innovative leaders in child nutrition in Indiana.

 But it also gives us the opportunity every year to examine our child nutrition programs, even in years like this one where there are no programs to reauthorize.

 The federal government supports over a dozen child nutrition programs and other activities benefitting more than 35 million children.  Federal outlays for all child nutrition programs are expected to total over $13.3 billion in fiscal year 1999.  Additional federal spending on public assistance efforts like food stamps more than doubles that amount.  The combination of all these efforts provides a nutritional safety net that supports in some way over half the children up to age 18 in the United States.

 We are going to look at several programs today including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.  Practically all of our public schools and one fifth of our private schools participate in the school lunch program serving, on average, over 26 million children each day.  Over 70 percent of schools participate in the school breakfast program, serving almost 7 million children each day.  Over one million children were provided subsidized meals at child care centers and almost 1 million children received meals at family day care homes.  I commend you, and all those involved, for creating a success story and having a positive effect on the health and well-being of our nation’s children.

 In many ways this hearing is a celebration of last year’s  passage of the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act.  We will have the opportunity to hear  how our nation’s schools and other institutions serving children are implementing the new and expanded feeding programs.  We will also hear from our nation’s child care centers on challenges that lie ahead of us.

 Today we will hear from several organizations that are involved in the implementation of the reauthorization bill.  Joining us today on the first panel are: Martha Hill, President of the American School Food Service Association: Gaye Lynn MacDonald, Public Policy Chairperson of the American School Food Service Association; and Barry Reese, President of the Indiana School Food Service Association.  The second panel consists of  James D. Weill, President of the Food Research Action Center; Nick Craft, Past President of the National Child Care Association; and Rhea Starr, Special Assistant and Child Care Advocate, National YWCA.