It is good to see so many old friends here this evening. First and foremost are people like Diane who I have known personally and professionally for nearly 20 years.

And of course, friends from the various child nutrition and hunger communities such as Ed Cooney with the Congressional Hunger Center, Bob Greenstein and Ellen Nissenbaum with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Father Greenaway with the National WIC Directors, America’s 2nd Harvest, the American School Food Service Association, the Child Nutrition Forum, the list goes on and on.

And, then there is FRAC with Jim Weill leading the charge, and Ellen Teller closely behind. Although at other times I know it is Ellen who is pulling Jim along much like she does many of my colleagues on the hill. FRAC, along with all of you here tonight, deserve a round of applause for your work fighting childhood hunger and keeping the issue in the public eye. I thank you for your dedication to this task and I thank you for this award.

Giving childhood hunger the attention it deserves takes on even greater importance when you consider how vulnerable child nutrition programs are.

These programs are competing for public attention and public resources. We see the various headlines that compete for public attention these days: Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism, unemployment, the growing deficit, gas prices, cost of higher education…. Its rare that we see headlines on childhood hunger, even though we know hunger exists. We know that the 2 million jobs lost during this Administration means that there are families who are out of work, struggling to pay their food bills, and turning to food banks for assistance.

We know there are young mothers in communities in every state who are not receiving appropriate pre-natal care and as a result, their children are born with numerous risk factors; nutrition being one of them.

We also know that there are too many children going without a meal during the summer because there aren’t any summer meals programs in their neighborhood. Such as in Solano County, in my district where an estimated 78% of eligible kids go unserved during the summer.

And, we shouldn’t forget that history can repeat itself if we are not vigilant. It wasn’t that long ago that the Republican Leadership in the House tried to cut school lunch.

It appears even this Administration is doomed to repeat the failures of the past when it comes to child nutrition policy…Back then they declared ketchup as a vegetable, today it's frozen French fries that get a free pass.

So, we know families are struggling to find food. We know there are poor mothers and their babies who are in need of WIC services. And, we know that playing politics with child nutrition programs threatens these critical programs…We know all these things, yet there is little urgency in making childhood and family hunger a part of the national discourse so that we can find some answers to these challenges.

And, this is why completing the child nutrition reauthorization this summer is so important.

The Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act places great emphasis on providing access to meals for more children both during the school year and during the summer. It takes significant steps towards a goal I know we all share: universal breakfast and lunch for school children.

The Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act acknowledges that there are children in this country who wake up hungry and go to bed hungry. It eliminates some of the burdens families face in having to choose paying a bill over feeding a child. It allows more children to receive a hot meal or a snack in the afternoon.

With your support, we were able to fight back Administration proposals to drop eligible kids from the school lunch rolls. We also ensure that non-English speaking families are well informed about their eligibility for these programs.

We still have work to do, however. Even though more children will have access to school meals, Congress may well miss an important opportunity to address the issue of childhood obesity in this reauthorization.

We have yet to come up with an adequate response to this health challenge facing millions of children and youth. The California Center for Public Health Advocacy found between 16.9% and 36.8% of children in California are overweight. This should be unacceptable to everyone.

There is no single solution to the issue of childhood obesity, but the federal government should play a role in developing goals for healthy eating in the school. Without federal guidance on this issue, the overall quality of school meal programs is significantly undermined, and we also undermine the parents who want their children to have better food choices in the schools.

Many of you have stood with me on this issue and we will continue the fight together in the future. I haven’t given up.

Your support of the reauthorization has been integral to our efforts in the House. And, your work to keep childhood hunger in the spotlight will always be critical for families who are struggling.

Again, I thank you for reminding me of the tasks ahead and I thank you for this award.