LETTERS: EMERSON FOUGHT HUNGER

To the editor:

At a time when more than one in four children under age 12 in our country is hungry or at risk of hunger, a congressional leader on hunger issues like Congressman Bill Emerson, who died last month, will be deeply missed. As chairman of the Nutrition Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee, Emerson was a leader on hunger issues in Congress who was well positioned to challenge congressional threats to sharply cut nutrition programs. Last year, Emerson played a crucial role in saving the federal food stamp program.

Bread for the World, the nation's largest citizens movement against hunger, is deeply saddened by his death. He was a passionate advocate for reforms to make assistance programs more efficient for both recipients and taxpayers. Emerson was a member of Bread for the World's board of directors from January 1995 until his death. He served on the House Select Committee on Hunger from 1985 to 1994 and was, until his death, co-chair with Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, of the Congressional Hunger Center. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Emerson "worked extraordinarily hard on the issue of hunger, reached out in a bipartisan way and was recognized around the world as somebody who cared deeply about everyone on the planet having a chance to have a decent meal and to live a life which has good nutrition."

DAVID BECKMANN, President

Bread for the World

Silver Spring, Md.