Editorial

President Bush’s plan to veto the Agriculture Appropriations bill will cause 500,000 low-income pregnant women, infants, and children to be denied needed baby formula, milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, peanut butter, or dried beans peas, and fruit or vegetable juices.

The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program faces budget cuts, a program which provides nutritious foods, counseling on healthy eating, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age five who are at nutritional risk.

The WIC program has been proved to reduce infant deaths, pre-mature births, and decreases low birth weight births by up to 25 percent, WIC has reduced the prevalence of childhood anemia and is more effective than food stamps or other cash income in improving preschoolers' intake of key nutrients. WIC also contributed significantly to improved rates of childhood immunization and regular medical care. Data suggest that WIC can act as a gateway, guiding low-income women and children to additional services such as immunization, smoking cessation programs, and parental counseling. In addition to these health benefits, WIC services also save the federal government an estimated $337 million by reducing expenditures for Medicaid, disabled children, and special education.

Increased food costs for dairy and fresh fruits and vegetables in 2007 is causing more low-income families to turn to the WIC program for assistance, The program serves 8.48 million women, infants, and children. If Congress adopted the President’s proposed budget, 510,000 participants would be denied services. The bill adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee provides $5.720 billion, or $333 million more than the President’s proposal and the House version of bill would serve approximately 270,000 more WIC participants than the President’s proposed funding level but still leads to cut in the program.

WHAT’S BEHIND THE BUDGET BATTLES BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS? (see bottom of this item)

As part of President Bush’s strategy of reducing domestic spending so there is enough money to pay for the Iraq war, he is threatening to veto both the House and Senate version of the Agriculture bill, demanding that they fund the program at his requested level, even though his own staff acknowledges that they did not take into consideration increasing food costs causing more families to be in need.

Congress is now working on an Omnibus Appropriations Bill that would “split the difference” between the levels the President seeks for domestic funding bills and the levels Congress has approved. If Congress sets the WIC funding level halfway between what the House has passed and the level the President proposed, the number of participants will be cut by more than 400,000. If Congress sets the level halfway between the Senate level and the President’s, the number of participants will be cut by 295,000.

In the past there has been a broad bi-partisan support due to the proven success of the WIC program but it is unknown if that support would lead to an override of the President’s veto.

What can you do to help?

10 minutes of your time can help 500,000 poor women, infants and children.
Call and/or email at least three on the list below. (e.g Pres. Bush, One US Representative. and One US Senator - please contact those from your state first).

President Bush and ask him to fully fund the WIC program at the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Bill levels.
Phone 202-456-1111 Email comments@whitehouse.gov.

Members of US House of Representtives and US Senate and ask them to fund the WIC program at the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Bill levels –ask them not cut the funding in the appropriations “split the difference” bill.

These members of Congress are Appropriation Sub-Committee Chairs and are especially important to contact:

U. S. Representatives
David R. Obey (D-WI) [Chairman] 202-225-3365 Not Available http://obey.house.gov/HoR/WI07/Miscellaneous+Information/
email+sign+up+form.htm

John P. Murtha (D-PA) 202-225-2065 Fax- 202-225-5709 http://www.house.gov/murtha/write.shtml

Jack Kingston (R-GA) (202) 225-5831 jack.kingston@mail.house.gov

Norman D. Dicks (D-WA) 202-225-5916 Fax- 202-226-1176 http://www.house.gov/dicks/contact.html

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) 202-225-5034 Fax-202-225-3186 http://frelinghuysen.house.gov/contactus/form.cfm

Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) 202-225-4172 fax - 202-225-7564

C.W. Bill Young ( R-FL) 202-225-5961 Fax-202-225-9764
Bill.Young@mail.house.gov

Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN) 202-225-2461 Fax-202-225-2493
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

David L. Hobson (R-OH)202-225-4324 Fax- 202-225-1984 http://hobson.house.gov/contact.aspx

Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) 202-225-6506 Fax - 202-225-0546 http://www.house.gov/lowey/get_address.htm

Ralph Regula (R-OH)202-225-3876 Fax -202-225-3059
http://regula.house.gov/zipauth.html

Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) 202-225-4361 Fax -202-225-6001
jserrano@mail.house.gov

Harold Rogers (R-KY) 202-225-4601 Fax-202-225-0940 http://halrogers.house.gov/Contact.aspx

Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) 202-225-3661 Fax- 202-225-4890 http://www.house.gov/delauro/IMA/issue.htm

Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)202-225-6216 Fax-202-225-3489
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm

James P. Moran (D-VA) 202-225-4376 Fax -202-225-0017
http://moran.house.gov/zipauth.shtml

James T. Walsh (R-NY) 202-225-3701 Fax-202-225-4042
http://walsh.house.gov/zipauth.shtml

John W. Olver (D-MA) 202-225-5335 Fax- 202-226-1224 http://www.house.gov/olver/contact/index.html

Zach Wamp (R-TN) 202-225-3271 Fax -202-225-3494 http://www.house.gov/wamp/contact_email.shtm

David E. Price (D-NC) 202-225-1784 Fax- 202-225-2014 http://www.house.gov/sites/members/nc04_price/
contact/contact_form.shtml

Roger F. Wicker (R -MS) 202-225-4306 Fax-202-225-3549 http://www.house.gov/wicker/contact/

Chet Edwards (D-TX) 202-225-6105 Fax-202-225-0350 http://edwards.house.gov/html/contact_form_email.cfm

Frank R. Wolf (R-VA)202-225-5136 Fax-202-225-0437 http://www.house.gov/formwolf/contact_email/emailzip.shtml

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) 202-225-7931 Fax-202-226-2052 http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/zipauth.htm

Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) 202-225-5802 Fax -202-226-2356 http://www.knollenberg.house.gov/Contact/write.htm

US Senators

Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) [Chairman] 202-224-3954 Fax-202-228-0002 http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

Robert Bennett (R- UT)202-224-5444 Fax-202-228-1168 http://bennett.senate.gov/contact/email_opinion.cfm

Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 202-224-3934 Fax- 202-224-6747 http://inouye.senate.gov/abtform.html

Richard Shelby (R-AL)202-224-5744 Fax-202-224-3416 http://shelby.senate.gov/resources/contact.htm

Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) 202-224-4242 Fax 202-224-3
479 senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Ted Stevens (R-AK)202-224-3004 Fax-202-224-2354 http://stevens.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.EmailSenatorStevens

Tom Harkin (D-IA) 202-224-3254 Fax -202-224-9369
http://harkin.senate.gov/c/

Pete Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621 Fax-202-228-3261 http://domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) 202-224-4654 Fax-202-224-8858 http://mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html

Sam Brownback (R-KS)202-224-6521 Fax-202-228-1265 http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Herb Kohl (D-WI) 202-224-5653 Fax202-224-9787
http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html

Thad Cochran (R-MS)202-224-5054 Fax-202-224-9450 http://cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm

Patty Murray (D-WA) 202-224-2621 Fax-202-224-0238
http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Wayne Allard (R-CO)202-224-5941 Fax-202-224-6471 http://allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551 Fax-202-224-1193
senator@dorgan.senate.gov

Arlen Specter (R-PA)202-224-4254 Fax-202-228-1229 http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 202-224-3841 Fax-202-228-3954 http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)202-224-5922 Fax-202-224-0776 http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) 202-224-2152 Fax-202-228-0400 http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Tim Johnson (D-SD) 202-224-5842 202-228-5765 http://johnson.senate.gov/contact/

Judd Gregg (R-NH)202-224-3324 Fax-202-224-4952 http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Mary Landrieu (D-LA) 202-224-5824 Fax-202-224-9735 http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Christopher Bond (R-MO) 202-224-5721 Fax-202-224-8149 http://bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Jack Reed (D-RI) 202-224-4642 202-224-4680 http://reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm

Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) 202-224-3224 202-228-4054 http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/

Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551 202-228-0012 http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

WHAT’S BEHIND THE BUDGET BATTLES BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS?


In his conflicts with Congress over issues from taxes to children’s health insurance to appropriations bills, the President is casting himself as the defender of fiscal responsibility. His actions, however, tell a different story.

In fighting congressional efforts to pay for tax-cut legislation, rather than to let the deficit rise, the President is insisting that tax loopholes for extremely affluent equity-fund and hedge-fund managers remain untouched. Similarly, in threatening to veto Medicare legislation being developed in Congress, he is insisting that billions of dollars in government overpayments to private health insurance companies remain untouched. He is also demanding that Congress cut billions of dollars from domestic programs ranging from education to medical research to help for poor families and elderly people with soaring winter heating bills.