82R3678 BPG-D
 
  By: Lucio S.C.R. No. 9
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps
  millions of our nation's families during difficult times, and in
  the present economy, more than one in seven Americans relies on this
  aid, historically known as food stamps; and
         WHEREAS, The primary goal of the program is to ensure that
  households can obtain supplemental nutritious food; when the food
  stamp program was introduced in 1939, it met the combined goals of
  subsidizing nutritious food purchases for victims of the Great
  Depression while reducing agricultural surplus and allowed food
  stamp recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as eggs,
  dairy products, and other items produced in abundance by farmers;
  and
         WHEREAS, Today, nearly seven percent of food stamp funds are
  spent on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages defined by the
  United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the
  program, as having "minimal nutritious value"; these beverages are
  the single greatest source of added sugar in the American diet, and
  the Centers for Disease Control has called for reductions in
  soft-drink consumption, as have numerous other organizations; it is
  estimated that the federal government will spend $4 billion on soft
  drinks through SNAP in 2011; and
         WHEREAS, Program recipients can also use benefits to pay for
  candy, doughnuts, potato chips, and other snacks that are high in
  fat or sugar or both but very low in nutrients; instead of improving
  health, such products contribute to the growing epidemic of
  obesity, which has brought about increased rates of diabetes and
  other chronic diseases; pediatricians report seeing more obese
  children suffering from diseases that once affected only adults,
  including hip problems, high blood pressure, hardening of the
  arteries, and gallstones; and
         WHEREAS, The foundations for good health are established in
  childhood, a fact recognized by the Special Supplemental Nutrition
  Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), likewise
  administered by the USDA; WIC bans sugary drinks, pastries, snack
  foods, and other unhealthy items from its list of eligible foods;
  and
         WHEREAS, The majority of households receiving funds from the
  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program include children, yet
  this program permits the purchase of high-calorie, low-nutrition
  products that contribute to childhood obesity, and youths
  struggling with obesity are very likely to become adults facing
  serious health problems; as a rising number of families become
  dependent on food stamps, it is imperative that the nation ensure
  that the program is supporting good nutrition, rather than
  subsidizing the purchase of products that will, ultimately, lead to
  ever-higher health care costs; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to amend the
  list of allowable foods under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
  Program to eliminate sweetened drinks and snack foods of minimal
  nutritional value; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
  the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
  Representatives of the United States Congress, to the secretary of
  the United States Department of Agriculture, and to all the members
  of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
  resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
  the Congress of the United States of America.