WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- Sen. Martin Heinrich issued the following news release:

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, and U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) introduced the Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act, legislation to make it easier for students to access quality, nutritious school meals.

School meals help shape lifelong healthy eating habits, and research shows that students who participate in school meal programs have better overall diet quality than nonparticipants. But as the cost of food and equipment continues to rise, school districts are struggling to keep up. The Healthy Meal...