July 21, 1978
Page 22164
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. KENNEDY) in offering this amendment to the Child Nutrition Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to include seafood and seafood products in the school lunch program. My colleagues from Maine, BILL HATHAWAY joins in offering this amendment which we support as an effort to improve marketing opportunity for our fishermen.
BILL deserves praise for his continued and dedicated efforts in support of Maine fishermen. He has most recently taken the lead in arguing that countervailing duties be imposed on fish imported from Canada. The hearings he chaired in the International Trade Subcommittee on that issue last week established the unfair advantage which government subsidies give Canadian fishermen and the impact of subsidized fish products on our industry. I have joined with him in that effort. I congratulate him for his leadership.
Mr. President. the amendment we are offering here today clarifies the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase fish and fish products for the school lunch program.
Because of the absence of clear authority to purchase seafood products, none of the $700 million currently expended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the school lunch commodity program has been expended for seafood products. This amendment will clarify his authority to include fish in the program. This broadening of the Secretary's authority will benefit the program and its recipients, and assist our efforts to strengthen the seafood industry and the marketing of underutilized species.
This new authority will give the Secretary flexibility to assure varied and nutritious diets and will provide the 25 million school children participating in the program the benefits of nutritious, high quality seafood. Fish provides an excellent source of low-fat protein. The exposure of our schoolchildren to menus including a range of fish products can play an important role in the improvement of our national diet.
Our fishermen will be able to use this program in their exploration of new markets for species and stocks available to them under the Fishery Management and Conservation Act. New markets for these underutilized species would, of course, broaden our food base and aid our domestic fishery and should relieve pressure on those fish stocks such as cod and haddock which are now subject to stiff quotas. I am pleased to join in offering this amendment and urge its acceptance.