Use your vote tomorrow to help kids…And don’t forget that the current Congress's work isn’t done yet

Posted by Michael McKenna on Monday, November 1, 2010

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conference of leaders Tomorrow is Election Day and all of us have a responsibility to exercise our constitutional right to vote. Yes, it’s been a crazy campaign season with lots of surprises, big spending candidates, and lots of ideas about where this country is headed. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, we’ve been witnessing democracy in action — never perfect, rarely easy — but nevertheless the only political system built on the premise that all citizens should have a say in the governance process.

But guess who won’t be voting? Kids. Their voice isn’t represented like so many other groups in American society. So when you pull the lever in the booth tomorrow, ask yourself, what will this man or woman do for America’s future generations when they get elected? Will they worry like we do at Share Our Strength about the nearly 16 million children living in poverty? Do they want to lend a hand to the little boy that one of my colleagues heard about in Arkansas who stuffed his pockets with ketchup packets so that he and his grandmother could make tomato soup?

Most importantly, do they recognize the power he or she has as a member of Congress to craft policy to make positive change? I sure hope so. And no matter who is headed in and who is headed out of the Capitol come the end of this year, the current Congress still has some unfinished business.

By that I mean the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill. We’ve had a few stories on the blog over the summer about the process for this important piece of legislation.

To recap, the Senate passed their version, called the Healthy-Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, in August and the House Education and Labor Committee introduced their own version called the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act in June. But the whole House still needs to take a vote on one of these bills to get it one step closer to becoming law.

Members of Congress will be back in session on November 15th. Stay tuned to the blog these next few weeks to learn about how you can help us move the needle on this bill.
And don’t forget to vote for champions for children on Tuesday!

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