U.S. Children Still Threatened by Hunger

Bread for the World
Tuesday, 18 July 2000

Congressional Budget Office announces a $2.2 trillion surplus, but congressional leaders balk at funding the Hunger Relief Act

Despite a robust economy, the number of children living in households threatened by hunger dropped only slightly last year. According to U.S. government data, 16.9 percent of all children lived in households that experience hunger or are threatened by hunger in 1999, compared to 17.3 percent in 1998.

This information was released on July 13 as part of the report: America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2000. The hunger data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most recent study of food security, which will be released in its entirety later this year. The report demonstrates the ongoing need to strengthen the nation's nutrition programs.

"With Congress on a fast track toward adjournment, the [Hunger Relief Act] faces an uphill fight for passage and funding. To fail to feed the hungry, however, would be unconscionable amid such plenty." -Miami Herald, June 19, 2000

The Hunger Relief Act (S. 1805/H.R. 3192) would expand nutrition assistance to more needy families. As of July 18, the Hunger Relief Act had 155 House cosponsors and 28 in the Senate. The bill is supported by the Clinton administration, and it continues to gain bipartisan support in Congress.

Nevertheless, congressional leaders have yet to schedule a vote for the Hunger Relief Act, and several members of Congress have refused to support it the unless the cost of the bill, $2.5 billion over five years, is offset by cuts to other programs.

Today, the Congressional Budget Office announced that the U.S. government is expected to take in $2.2 trillion more than it spends over the next 10 years. This is the largest projected surplus ever. The cost of the Hunger Relief Act would be less than one half of one percent of the expected surplus.

In the face of this enormous surplus, there is no excuse to allow high levels of hunger to persist in this nation. There is no longer any question of whether we can afford to reduce hunger in the United States. The only question is whether there is the political will.

Summary of the Hunger Relief Act:

- Allows low-income people to own a reliable car and still receive food stamps. Currently most families who own a car worth more than $4,650 (often essential for work) are ineligible for food stamps.

- Allows low-income people who spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing to receive the food stamps they need. The Food Stamp Program currently "caps" a family's housing expenses when calculating its food stamp benefits, regardless of its actual expenditures. For that reason, nearly 750,000 families receive smaller benefits for food than they need.

- Allows legal immigrants to receive food stamps on the same basis as citizens: need. Most legal immigrants, many of whom work and pay taxes, are barred from participation.

- Increases funding for emergency food providers. This bill would increase the authorization for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides food banks and other emergency food providers with commodities.

For more information, or to contact Bread for the World, see their website at: www.bread.org