Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald's instead

Source: NBC

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., on Tuesday defended the impacts of the White House's federal aid freeze on school lunch programs by suggesting that some children should be working instead of receiving free lunch.

During an interview on CNN, McCormick praised the move as a way to broadly re-evaluate how the government allocates funding. CNN anchor Pamela Brown noted that Head Start, which helps provide nutritional assistance to low-income children and families, is one of the programs that could be affected. She pressed McCormick on whether he would support cutting funding for free breakfast and lunches.

"Before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field, before child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through," McCormick said. "You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King, McDonald’s, during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work? I think we need to have a top-down review."

McCormick, who was speaking from Doral, Florida, where House Republicans are holding their annual issues conference, said that the pause on federal funds gives the government a chance to "see where is the money really being spent."

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-congressman-suggests-children-receiving-free-school-lunches-rcna189614