Undermining Children's Nutrition

Playing Politics with School Lunches
This week, the House Appropriations Committee passed an agriculture spending bill that would allow schools to opt-out of nutrition standards that were established under The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which requires school meals with more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains while using less sodium. The legislation also weakens the Women Infants and Children (WIC) initiative, making items like white potatoes eligible for purchase despite their weak nutritional value.

72 million children live near or at the poverty level in the United States, with one-third of these children either overweight or obese. With nearly 32 million children nationwide participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 12 million participating in the School Breakfast Program, these daily meals play an essential role in combatting poverty and obesity. San Francisco Unified School District has already taken many steps to improve the food systems, aligning with the highest nutritional standards in the nation and making a bold commitment to feed every hungry child. Every day, SFUSD serves over 6,000 breakfasts, 23,000 lunches and 7,000 after-school snacks by local chefs with quality ingredients.

Republicans are determined to overrule the views of medical professionals so these children can eat fewer fruits and vegetables, and pregnant mothers and infants can consume more potatoes and not enough of the nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables they need. Instead of playing politics with the health of our nation's future leaders, Congress should focus on improving children's access to the nutrients they need to succeed in the classroom and lead healthy lives. We must come together to address the priorities of our children, not those of special interests and food industry giants.

Prosperity for All
This Tuesday, I joined with Mayor Ed Lee and Bay Area Members to welcome Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to San Francisco to recommit ourselves to the task of increasing opportunities for working families and acting as a transformational force of progress for the American people.

On June 23rd, 2014, the White House Summit on Working Families will convene to host advocates, workers, business leaders, and public servants to discuss initiatives that will improve the economic security of our families and our nation. With President Obama and Secretary Perez's leadership and with partnerships here in San Francisco and across the country, we can advance an agenda that strengthens families and women, and extends the reach of prosperity for all. House Democrats have designed an economic agenda that would unleash the power of women and strengthen families; When Women Succeed, America Succeeds, which is founded upon the pillars of equal pay, a higher minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and affordable, quality child care.

Our agenda reflects essential truths about our country – that when working families thrive, our economy grows. Together, we will work to improve the lives of American families and create a brighter future for generations to come.

Congresswoman Pelosi joins Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Mayor Ed Lee and Bay Area Representatives Jackie Speier, Mike Honda and Jared Huffman at the Department of Labor's San Francisco Forum on Working Families to highlight Democrats' plan to build an economy that works for everyone.

Their Incredible Courage
25 years ago, a community of activists, dissidents, students, and Chinese citizens stood up for their rights in Tiananmen Square. A people spoke out against the abuses of their government. A people demanded respect, dignity, liberty – a voice.

A people protested, demonstrated, marched. A military was turned against the very people it was supposed to protect. And a young man stood alone in the street, bringing a line of tanks to a grinding halt. An image seared into the memory of all who saw it. A photograph unforgettable to anyone committed to the promise of human dignity. A moment that, then and now, challenges the conscience of the world.

Tiananmen Square has become a symbol of the ongoing battle for human rights in China. As Han Dongfang, one of Tiananmen's heroes, once told me, today the fight is not under a banner of democracy. The fight of the Chinese people is for their rice bowl, for health care, for clean air and water, for their freedom. The world must stand united, with a firm and unwavering message: these practices and abuses must end. We must learn from the memory of a dark chapter of our past – and to write a brighter chapter of freedom and justice in the future.

In 1991, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi stood in Tiananmen Square holding a banner that read, "To those who died for democracy in China", in honor of the Chinese men and women who were killed in the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 6th, 1989.