{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/heinrich-leger-fernandez-stansbury-introduce-legislation-strengthen-tribal", "Heinrich, Leger Fern\u00e1ndez, Stansbury, Introduce Legislation To Strengthen Tribal Food Sovereignty, Increase Access To Free School Meals For Native Children", "2022-07-26", "2022", "2022-07", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Melanie A. Stansbury", "S001218", "stansbury.house.gov", "stansbury", "https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (N.M.-03) and Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) introduced the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act to promote Tribal food sovereignty and make it easier for Native children to access free meals at school.\n\n\u201cWe owe it to every child to provide equitable access to the kind of nutritious foods that promote lifelong health and wellbeing,\u201dsaid Heinrich. \u201cFar too many Tribal communities across the country currently lack the resources necessary to ensure Native children have consistent access to healthy meals. This legislation will help mitigate the economic, health, and food challenges that Tribes face while promoting efforts to strengthen and protect Indigenous food systems.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur kids should never have to worry about where their next meal will come from. Unfortunately, too many Indigenous children continue to lack access to affordable and nutritious meals. This bill will make sure that Indigenous students across the country are eligible to receive free school meals. It strengthens Tribal sovereignty by allowing Tribal Nations to authorize their own nutrition programs and include culturally appropriate foods, such as the Three Sisters of corn, beans, and squash\u201dsaid Leger Fern\u00e1ndez.\u201cFor far too long, the United States undermined Tribal nutrition by providing Native families the least nutritious foods. This bill makes sure Tribal nations have food sovereignty and remedy this historical mistreatment.\u201d\n\nNative American populations are more likely to experience poverty, food scarcity and nutrition-related health conditions. One in four Native Americans experience food insecurity, compared to one in eight Americans overall. In addition to this, nearly half of individuals living in Tribal areas have incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.\n\nThe Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act seeks to address this inequity by allowing Tribes to ensure children within their communities have consistent access to a variety of nutritious meal options, including local Indigenous foods.\n\nThe bill establishes a two-year pilot program through the USDA, awarding funds to 10 Tribal entities that will directly administer the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program. Eligible entities include Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations, a consortium of Indian Tribes, or a partnership between an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization and a State or local education agency.\n\nThe Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act also makes Native children categorically eligible for free school meals and allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to adjust reimbursement rates for Bureau-funded schools and schools on or near a reservation.\n\nU.S. Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.) is a cosponsor of the bill in the U.S. Senate. Senator Luj\u00e1n previously co-led the bill when he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the House, the bill is co-led by U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Ruben Gallego. (D-Ariz.).\n\n\u201cFor too long, communities on Tribal lands have faced some of the highest rates of food insecurity\u2014impacting Native children at a time when food and nutrition is vital for their health and well-being,\u201dsaid Luj\u00e1n, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. \u201cHaving previously co-led this effort in the House, I\u2019m proud to continue fighting to expand access to healthy meals for students in Native communities while protecting Tribal sovereignty.\u201d\n\n\u201cSchool meals play a vital role in helping to address hunger and food insecurity and helping to keep our kids healthy and strong. Ensuring our Tribes and Pueblos can provide school meals is critical to the well-being of our communities and I am proud to co-sponsor the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act with Chairwoman Leger Fern\u00e1ndez in the House,\u201dsaid Stansbury, a member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States. \u201cIn the New Mexico State Legislature I was proud to lead legislation with our Governor and Representative Willie Madrid to extend school meals to thousands of New Mexico kids and have seen firsthand the impacts these programs have on our kids and communities. This bill will enable Tribes and Pueblos to extend school meal programs and honor the sovereignty, needs, and food traditions of our tribal communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery child in America deserves to have a free, nutritious breakfast and lunch as part of their school day,\u201d said McGovern. \u201cI\u2019ve visited Tribal communities and seen firsthand the inequities and injustices of our current food system. That\u2019s why I\u2019m grateful to my colleagues, Senator Heinrich and Representative Leger Fern\u00e1ndez, for introducing the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act to help fight high rates of food insecurity among Tribal families and ensure Native children have access to free meals at school. We must continue fighting for a hunger free America where no child wakes up not knowing when their next meal will be.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery child in our country should have access to affordable and nutritious food, regardless of their background or where they live,\u201d said Gallego. \u201cUnfortunately, Native families and their children often still face too many barriers to accessing school lunch programs which are a lifeline for so many. This bill will cut through the red tape to make every Native child automatically eligible for free school meals, ensuring every student in Indian Country can focus on learning, and not on if they have lunch the next day. It also bolsters Tribal sovereignty by expanding opportunities for Tribes to administer their own culturally responsive nutrition programs. I\u2019m proud to join my Senate colleagues in this effort that will uplift so many Native children in Arizona and across the country.\u201d\n\nThe Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act has received the support of the National Congress of American Indians and New Mexico Appleseed.\n\n\"The Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act would ensure American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth have access to financially sustainable, nutritious meals and that schools serving AI/AN students have the funding they need to adequately feed their children. This Act also provides substantial steps towards developing culturally relevant school nutrition programs and will create a pilot program for 10 tribal entities to directly implement school nutrition programs. We applaud Senator Heinrich for his leadership on this issue and continued support for providing the necessary tools for our AI/AN students and food producers,\u201dsaid National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp.\n\n\u201cNative Americans have some of the highest rates of food insecurity ever recorded. The TNIA envisions sovereign tribal nations with adequate resources to feed their children culturally relevant and healthy food,\u201dsaid New Mexico Appleseed Executive Director Jennifer Ramos.\n\n\u201cTaos Pueblos Education & Training Division receives CACFP reimbursements for the Taos Pueblo Head Start and Early Head Start program. As a recipient of this program we have experienced many challenges and barriers with the various requirements of the program. One of the major challenges are that there is not enough flexibility to include our traditional foods and locally sourced ingredients. Food is a major component of culture and through this program we are not able to really engage our students in the rich cultural teachings that could be happening through food. Among the many barriers that we have experienced including the amount of paperwork that is required, is not fully being able to administer our own program. Many tribes administer grants directly with the Federal Government and by not allowing us to directly administer our own programs is to not acknowledge our sovereignty,\u201dsaid Taos Pueblo Education & Training Division Director Bettina Sandoval.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:49:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/heinrich-leger-fernandez-stansbury-introduce-legislation-strengthen-tribal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3512498699128628, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}