Senate Passes “The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today issued the following statement regarding the Senate’s passage of “The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.”

"I applaud the bipartisan action in the Senate today to reauthorize and reform the child nutrition and WIC programs by passing the “The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.”

"First Lady Michelle Obama has been a tremendous champion for this legislation, and I commend the leadership of Senators Reid, McConnell, Lincoln, Chambliss and the remainder of the Senate for their unanimous support. This is a great victory for America's children. This bill advances the Obama Administration’s priorities to improve meal quality, strengthen nutrition standards for school meals, reduce barriers and increase access to healthy school meals, promote nutrition education, establish standards for competitive foods, and provide food to needy children during gap periods when the regular nutrition assistance programs are not in operation. Passage of this legislation demonstrates our commitment to reduce hunger, improve the health of our children and support their academic achievement."

First Lady Michelle speaking in the Eishenower Executive Office Building. Photo/CD Brown.

The First Lady agrees, saying, "I am thrilled that Congress has taken a major step forward today in passing the Child Nutrition bill, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will help us provide healthier school meals to children across America and will play an integral role in our efforts to combat childhood obesity. Over the past few months, this bill has garnered widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans, all of whom care deeply about the health and wellbeing of our children and are committed to ensuring they have the nutrition they need to learn, grow and succeed. I know how much work it has taken to get to this point, and I want to commend Senators Reid, Lincoln, McConnell, and Chambliss for their leadership and thank them for their work to garner bipartisan support for this legislation. While childhood obesity cannot be solved overnight, with everyone working together, there’s no question that it can be solved -- and today’s vote moves us one step closer to reaching that goal. "

Vilsack goes on to say, "I congratulate the Senate for its work and urge Congress to continue to move this bill forward as quickly as possible."

Now, we just need the Senate, SecretaryTom Vilsack (and perhaps the First Lady) to help pass the $1.5b owed to Black farmers - as quickly as possible.