First. Senator CRANSTON correctly points out that both the immediate and longrange health care and nutrition needs of our Nations 1 million migratory workers and their families are overwhelming. and must be given immediate attention. Yet. health services under the Migrant Health Act are available to only one of three migrants. And. how ironic it is that many farmworkers who pick our Nations abundance of food are suffering from malnutrition. Second. I fully agree with Senator CRANSTON that the Migrant Health Act should immediately be extended for 5 years with substantially increased appropriations. Furthermore. I share his conviction that health care. like education. must be made available as a matter of right to every American citizen. And. finally. the theme repeated throughout my colleagues eloquent speech was that our Nations priorities must be reevaluated and reassessed. As he notes: We casually expend billions on sophisticated programs for military defense and then nitpick at the few dollars needed merely to investigate hunger and human need in our land. The migrant health program is currently funded for $9.000.000 a year. By doubling the appropriation we could at least reach 300.000 more human beings with minimum bealth care. Yet we spent. $560 billion for defense in the past 10 years. and expect to spend $100 billion to $115 billion in the year 1970.
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migrant migrants Migrant