July 22, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 123 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S4970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                     HONORING SERGEANT MIKE STEPHEN

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the service and 
sacrifice of Sergeant Mike Stephen of the Stone County Sheriff's 
Office. Sergeant Stephen was mortally wounded in the line of duty on 
July 18, 2019.
  As a veteran of the U.S. Army who spent 20 years in law enforcement, 
Mike Stephen was a true public servant. He bravely wore many of the 
uniforms we associate with serving and protecting communities. And his 
work didn't stop in his own community; he also advocated for his 
brothers and sisters in blue before the Arkansas State Legislature.
  Mike's second home was the fire station. He started serving at the 
Pineville Fire Department when he was 16 years old, and for the last 11 
years, he served as chief. His colleagues at the fire department had 
great respect and admiration for him. He was known as a leader who put 
110 percent into everything he did.
  Sergeant Stephen's colleagues in the sheriff's office will remember 
him as a man who led from the front and pushed everyone to do better.
  Sergeant Stephen truly was a hero. We honor his service and 
sacrifice. Certainly my thoughts and prayers are with his wife Susan, 
along with many other family members, friends, and colleagues in the 
law enforcement community. I humbly offer my sincere condolences as 
they grieve Mike's passing.
  I stand with all Arkansans in expressing our heartfelt gratitude for 
Sergeant Stephen's steadfast devotion to serve as a law enforcement 
officer. It takes a special person to put their life on the line every 
day to protect our communities. Sergeant Stephen exemplified what it 
meant to serve and protect, running toward danger as an Army veteran, a 
member of the Stone County Sheriff's Office, and as Pineville fire 
chief. Arkansas will be forever grateful for his sacrifice.


                      SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today's heat index is a brutal reminder 
that we are in the height of summer. While we all struggle to stay 
cool, too many children across the country have to deal with an 
additional discomfort this time of the year--hunger.
  We can't control the temperature outside, but we do have an 
opportunity to help relieve their hunger pangs by modernizing USDA's 
Summer Food Service Program, which offers children from low-income 
families free lunch and snacks in the summer.
  The Summer Food Service Program is hamstrung by rules that date back 
to the 1960s and dictate a one-size-fits-all approach to the problem. 
Because of this, five out of six of the children who participate in the 
school lunch program during the school year miss out on meals during 
the summer. The program falls short because it is inflexible. It 
requires that children travel to a central location and eat their meals 
together. While this works well in some communities, too many children 
still go hungry during the summer.
  More than 14 million low-income children across the country live in 
communities that are ineligible to operate an open summer meals site. 
Even in communities where there are sites, access can be far from easy. 
Lack of transportation and extreme weather often keep children away. In 
rural areas, where roughly 3 million low-income children live, the 
closest site could be several miles away.
  Senator Leahy and I are leading a bipartisan charge to overcome this 
challenge and make Federal child nutrition programs more efficient, 
flexible, and better equipped to reach children in need. Our bill, the 
Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act of 2019, brings together Senators from 
different regions with views across the political spectrum in an effort 
to address this issue. It counts the majority leader as one of its 
original cosponsors, as well as Senators Brown, Hyde-Smith, Bennet, and 
Hoeven. I am grateful for their support. We hope to add more names to 
this coalition moving forward.
  The bipartisan group teamed up because we have seen the need for more 
options to end hunger in our communities and share a belief that the 
best solutions to this problem come from the ground up. The changes we 
have put forward come directly from the leaders of organizations in our 
communities who are dedicated to ensuring children do not go hungry 
during the summertime. They have seen firsthand how difficult these 
summer months are for children who are unable to access meals at a 
central location. Their expertise and ideas helped us fashion 
alternative options to provide States with flexibility that will help 
fill the gaps where the programs fall short.
  The solution proposed by the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act of 2019 
channels the energy and want-to of these helpers to make the summer 
meals program work for all areas of the country. Kathy Webb, executive 
director of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, is one of those 
leaders on the ground in my State. She said the Hunger-Free Summer for 
Kids Act of 2019 will make a ``significant difference'' because it 
``provides the options families need to overcome barriers to access 
nutritious food their kids need in the summer.''
  I would stress that the organizations that provide summer meals at 
centralized locations do an excellent job. Not only do they supply 
nutritious meals children need to ensure their development does not 
suffer while out of school, but they also provide educational and 
recreational activities in a social setting. But, again, this doesn't 
work for every child in need. Too many are falling through the cracks. 
In fact, summer meals currently reach less than 20 percent of children 
who participate in similar programs during the school year.
  Our bill proposes two alternative options States could utilize 
through the Summer Food Service Program to reach these kids. The first 
would allow for meals to be consumed off-site through innovative means, 
like mobile feeding, and other programs, such as the backpack meals. 
The other option would authorize the summer EBT program, which would 
provide eligible families $30 per summer month per child, with a 
maximum of $100 per child per year, to purchase food from approved 
retailers. Summer EBT was shown to reduce child hunger by over 30 
percent in USDA pilot programs.
  To my colleagues, as you plan your itinerary for the August work 
period, I encourage you to visit summer feeding programs in your 
communities. Talk to those on the frontlines of this effort and ask 
them about our proposed changes to the Summer Food Service Program. I 
think you will find they face similar challenges to those we are 
seeking to overcome with the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act of 2019. 
August is the ideal time to see how organizations in your communities 
are using the program to help those in need and how these proposed 
changes will help them increase their reach.
  I yield the floor.

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