chance to get educated. If we allow about 1 million children in this county to grow up untrained and unhealthy and uneducated we don't have any right to expect any kind of productive society to them in the future. When I talk to my senior citizens they understand how few people pay into Social Security and they are concerned about that. I know you can't take on all these programs but this is an emergency. So while I have you all here captive, I am going to enlist your aid. Last year we had $7 million in the budget they cut us down from $50 to $7 million. The President's budget eliminates the funding entirely and put in $1.8 billion to go to Mars. And that is one of my programs I want to cut. As Barney Frank said I believe American security is okay if we stop paying to protect West Germany from East Germany now. What do you think? It may be a possibility. And we pay $20 billion to protect the sea lions around Japan. Now it looks to me as though the $170 billion in NATO spending and other costs should be reevaluated. It won't make sense to continue making this expenditure when we have dangerous, serious problems here at home. National security is critical and we are going to do everything we can to make sure we have a strong defense. But the United States will not be secure if it is not economically secure. I think the Soviet Union is evidence of that fact. I want to tell you right now I am going to be after you. I want you to help me get some money. I don't care where it comes from, if we can't scrounge it out of this Government, we'll have fund drives. But we can't let 1 million children in this country grow up without a chance at life, when it is literally no fault of their own. And at the same time I would like to see we feed them. As it relates to the WIC Program, I agree with you absolutely. But the problem of homeless children is sort of like a house on fire. Because of the attention that your former report got in all the business magazines and publications and considering the CEO's understanding and enlightened self-interest here, I want to see if I can't persuade you to help us. Look at some of the statistics and the things we are going to send you, and you'll see that the $50 milliom investment we are seeking is pittance. And the benefit, if we can cut out those dropouts is $240 billion. That is real money. Mr. WINTERS. Thank you. One of the pleasures of dealing with Congress is the richness of the range of interests we encounter from Members from different parts of the country. Mrs. SLAUGHTER. Did you recognize I was a New Yorker? Mr. WINTERS. Mr. Chairman, we very much appreciate the opportunity to appear here. We appreciate the attention which we received from the committee and its Members and we look forward to your thoughtful consideration of the issues we have been talking about. Mr. OBERSTAR. Not quite. I have the last word. I was detained earlier with the Committee of Public Works and Transportation with which I serve dealing with the Nation's infrastructure. I would like to thank Bill Woodside for his long and continuing support and activism in public policy issues and particularly for the work you have contributed to the Northeast-Midwest Institute. Dr. Renier was born and raised in my district in Duluth and graduated from the college I attended. It was at St. Thomas College that you first interacted with scientists in the upper echelons in the business world. I couldn't understand the homework my college roommate was bringing home on that stuff. You have really made a great contribution within Honeywell, and within the context of social activism and social responsibility which you have taken on. I wish there were time for you to talk about the Albuquerque project you have been involved with. It would be a great eye opener for Members of Congress. When you address the dysfunction of the American family and what it does to children, it strikes very solid, fundamental notes. The savings that can be achieved-the dollar amount you focused on, the savings are significant. They are important how much you can say in Medicaid and hospital costs by getting a little earlier start but I don't think there is any way to quantify as Louise Slaughter was saying a moment ago the impact that it has that a good start has on a human being. I lived in Haiti for 31⁄2 years where I taught English to Haitians, many of whom are now running the new government. I saw black children with red hair. Not the product of a visiting American sailor but of protein deficiency. And if you could get those kids a good diet of what they had in the country, beans with high protein, you could see their hair turning back to black. Kids 3 and 4 years old that were deaf and blind because of inadequate diet. If you would catch them in time, you could restore their sight and their hearing. a We have that problem here in America. And what you are focusing on is I think the most visionary testimony we have had in all of the testimony we received in the Budget Committee. The role of this panel is not necessarily to address the tactics of the budgeting, but to address the priorities that Congress ought to consider in shaping the budget that we ultimately must shape in a few weeks. And I particularly appreciate Mr. Woodside's comment moment ago. I think it was addressed to the ears that need to hear it at the time, that across the board cuts make no more sense in the budgets of industry and business than they do in government. The real test of leadership is what message you were getting across the real test of leadership is making choices from among available options. Across the board cuts represent a surrender of leadership and not an advocacy of values. A surrender of that. So when you say focus upon one of the few investments Congress can make that will make a difference in the future of this country, those early childhood investments, women and infants, you are addressing the future of America and that is what we ought to have our vision on. It is up to us to decide where we are going to get that money. You have highlighted the point that is all the more important because as leaders in business and industry you said this is important to us, to our view of the marketplace. If you help us, we will get there. I think, Dr. Renier, when you say that it means additional taxes, we ought to face up to it. I think if you can help us in the wider body politic by getting the public to understand that there is a return on that investment, that the tax they pay for improved nutrition and health and education, giving kids a start in life, is going to incur to their benefit and benefit of society, they will be willing to support it. We need your help as leaders in the business community to do that. Some years ago then mayor of Cleveland, now Governor of Ohio, George Voinovich, shortly after becoming mayor, called the business community together and said the city is in a mess, we have a disaster on our hands, infrastructure, finance, operations, transportation, everything. I have a plan to fix it. Here is how much it is going to cost and we are going to have to raise a tax to do this and you are going to go out and sell that tax. And he gave them a charge and a responsibility and they went out and did it and passed a bond issue and they raised the taxes to pay for it and he got the city out of the mess. Now, if you all can go and convince the public to help us do what you called upon us to do to make those choices, we will get on the right track. Thank you. The hearing is adjourned. [The following material was submitted for the record:] Corporate Support for the WIC Program Testimony Presented to the March 6, 1991 Robert E. Allen Chairman and Chief Executive Officer AT&T John L. Clendenin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. James J. Renier Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert C. Winters Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William S. Woodside Chairman Sky Chefs, Inc. As chief executive officers or board chairmen of five major American well-being of the nation's children. The health, well-being, and education of children in the U.S. are pivotal to keeping the United States competitive in an increasingly international economy. In addition, a heavy human toll is exacted when children grow up in conditions that effectively deny them the chance to attain their full potential. We're convinced that WIC Women, Infants and Children can make an important contribution to ensuring that the nation's education objectives are met, and that in turn, we have the productive workforce we need. WIC can also give many of our children a far better chance of reaching their full potential. For reasons we will outline, we are here today to urge that the nation establish a goal of full funding for WIC and move expeditiously toward it. Background: The Risks to the Nation From an Inadequate Education System Since the 1983 release of A Nation at Risk, the public and private sectors have made major commitments to strengthen public elementary and secondary education. This emphasis was rightly placed. Our public schools were failing, putting our children and our future at risk. Unfortunately, the number of young people entering the work force with the skills that employers need is shrinking each year while the need for workers |