During the course of passing the welfare reform bill. we made many changes in many programs in an effort to move people from welfare to work. There were several aspects of that billeven though I supported the bill in its entiretythere were several aspects of that bill which were troubling. not the least of which was the reduction in nutritional assistance for children in the United States. The purpose of this amendment is to correct what I consider to be a very serious error and a serious problem in this legislation. because with this amendment we will restore food stamps for the children of legal immigrants. Keep in mind that I have said legal immigrants. These are children legally in the United States who are in poverty and have been denied the protection and sustenance of the Food Stamp Program. It is a significant problem nationwide. Over 4.000 immigrant children in Illinois have lost their food stamps because of this welfare reform bill. over 283.000 nationwide. According to the Food Research Action Council survey of families living below 185 percent of poverty. hungry children suffer from two to four times as many individual health problems such as frequent colds and headaches. fatigue. unwanted weight loss. inability to concentrate and so on. These childrenhungry childrenare often absent from school.
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immigrant immigrants