From the Encyclopedia Americana, "McGovern, George"

    (1922-     ),  Born in Avon, South Dakota, McGovern graduated with honors from Dakota Wesleyan University.  He served as a bomber pilot during World War II (1939-1945), for which he was awarded a
Distinguished Flying Cross.  After the war McGovern earned a Ph.D. degree from Northwestern University and became a professor at Dakota Wesleyan University.
    McGovern was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956.  He was defeated in a run for the Senate in 1960, and then served as special assistant to President John F. Kennedy and as director of
the Food for Peace program.  In 1962  McGovern ran successfully for the Senate.  He was reelected in 1968, and would play a large part in shaping President Humphrey's agricultural policy.
    As a Senator from a predominately farming state, McGovern championed the interests of American farmers domestically and in foreign affairs.  He traveled with President Humphrey to Moscow in 1971 and while Humphrey worked to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and the deployment of antiballistic missiles, McGovern negotiated an agreement with the USSR that would enable them to make huge purchases of American wheat and other farm products.
    Also in foreign affairs, McGovern worked for the creation of a Farmers Corps, built on a framework similar to the Peace Corp.  This program offered jobs for farmers at a time when many were being
forced out of existence.  Volunteering for two year periods, farmers were sent to developing countries around the work to help in teaching improved farming methods.  In addition to attracting former farmers, many former 4-H members spent two years in the Farmers Corps after high school.
    Domestically, McGovern worked with both Congressional Democrats and Republicans such as Bob Dole.  The result of this work brought about the creation of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, the passage of programs such as WIC ("Women, Infants, and Children"), and the expansion of existing programs such as the food stamp program, school lunch program, summer feeding program and school breakfast program.

From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs"

    In July 30, 1968, the Senate approved an action to create the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.  Senator McGovern contributed its creation to the CBS documentary entitled Hunger: U.S.A. and its shocking look into the pockets of hunger across America.  At that time, twenty-five million Americans were suffering from hunger and malnutrition.  Some of the highlights of the committee's achievements include:
    (1)  The food stamp program was reaching fewer than 3 million people when work began in 1968.  A decade later, when the committee was phased out, there were 17 million food stamp recipients.
    (2)  In 1970, changes were to the federal school lunch program allowed a free or reduced-price lunch for low-income students who previously had been unable to participate, bringing the number involved
to nearly 12 million children a decade later receiving free or reduced-price lunch, with another 15 million children buying school lunches every day.
    (3)  The summer feeding program for children grew from serving 100,000 when the committee was launched to 2.5 million children a decade later.
    (4)  The school breakfast program grew from 330,000 in 1968 to 2.5 million in 1977.
    (5)  The establishment of Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a program that provides nutritious food and consulting to low-income pregnant and nursing mothers and their infants.

From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations (FAO)"

    Specialized United Nations agency whose main goal is to afford freedom from hunger on a world scale.  According to its constitution, the specific objectives are “raising levels of nutrition and standards
of living ...and securing improvements in the efficiency of the production and distribution of all food and agricultural products ...."
    The FAO originated at a conference called by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hot Springs, Virginia, in May 1943.  The 34 nations represented established the UN Interim Commission on Food and Agriculture.  In October 1945 the first session of the FAO was held in Quebec.
    During the 1970s, because of the work of Senator McGovern, the FAO's tasks were expanded to include a world wide school lunch program and a world wide version of the WIC program.  Congressional Republicans opposed the $2 billion price tag to launch these program, the work of Republicans such as Senator Bob Dole prevented a filibuster and won passage of the bill.

From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Dole, Robert"

    (1923-     ), Born in Russell, Kansas, and educated at the University of Kansas and Washburn University of Topeka.  Dole left college to join the military in World War II (1939-1945).  He was
severely wounded in Italy and left the military with a handicapped right arm.  Dole returned to graduate from college and law school magna cum laude.  In 1950 Dole was elected as a Republican representative to the Kansas state legislature.  His two-year term was followed by four two-year terms as the prosecuting attorney of Russell County.  In 1960 he won a seat as a Kansas representative to the Congress of the United States, serving from 1961 to 1969.  During this time he opposed many of the liberal spending policies of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, although he supported federal aid to the handicapped and to agriculture.
     Dole ran on the Republican ticket for U.S. senator in 1968 and won easily.  As a senator, Dole sometimes deviated from his strict conservatism, especially with his support of government aid to feed
the hungry and his consistent backing of civil rights legislation.  As the leading Republican on the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, Dole worked to build bipartisan coalitions in favor of ending hunger both in America and around the world.  Working to pass the agreement worked out between the USSR and America by Secretary McGovern, Dole came under fire from other Republicans for trying to make "a pact with the Devil."

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