The two former senators and presidential nominees come out roaring today in an op-ed in The Washington Post ("A Slap at Schoolchildren"). It should have said "the poorest schoolchildren."

How can the world's hungriest schoolchildren be denied meals while the farm bill being debated in a House-Senate conference provides millions in subsidies for wealthy farmers? That's what Congress proposes. In all fairness, it should not become law.

We are puzzled that Congress wants to increase overall farm bill spending by billions of dollars yet reduce by more than 90 percent the mandatory funding to feed hungry children. The program at issue saves lives and has a proven ability to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness in poor countries.

I expect the subsidy lobby would just as soon chalk these sentiments up to another example of liberal East coast elitist ignorance about "production agriculture," and such as that. Except of course McGovern hails from South Dakota and Dole from Kansas, and both hail from the trenches of the agriculture committee in many farm bills past. And both remember well the tragedy of the last global food crisis, in the mid-1970s, which gave rise to the first World Food Conference in Rome in November, 1974. McGovern attended that historic conference.

So did the Post's Dan Morgan. He was already then, and remains today, one of the very best journalists ever to cover food and agriculture. Morgan reports on the controversial hatchet job on McGovern-Dole in this morning's paper ("Farm Bill Negotiators Cut Funds for Overseas School Lunch Program").

Under a deal worked out in the last few days, required spending on the Dole-McGovern International Food for Education program was set at $60 million. That is $780 million less than proposed by the House, and $40 million less than was allocated in the expiring farm bill. . .

. . .The congressional action comes against a backdrop of sporadic violence related to soaring food prices in some impoverished nations. Troops in Mogadishu, Somalia, opened fire amid tens of thousands of rioters yesterday, killing two people, news agencies reported. . .

. . .The program results in more children enrolled in school, improved student performance, and greater parental and community involvement in education, according to a USDA summary.

"I can't figure why [the international school feeding program] was tossed aside," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a leading advocate for the program. He is not related to George McGovern.

House lawmakers blamed the Senate. "There was no support for it there. We ran into a brick wall," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), one of those representing the House in the talks.

No question DeLauro fought, and fought hard. It's her default position when it comes to issues like this.

But for my money, this problem is not Tom Harkin's to fix. It falls to House Speaker Pelosi and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson to make this right.

They, not Harkin or anyone else in the senate, promised Rep. Jim McGovern and other House advocates the full $840 million in funding for McGovern-Dole through conference.

And in return, Jim McGovern swallowed hard and supported the status quo farm bill for which the subsidy lobby subsequently praised Pelosi and and for which newspapers nationwide have excoriated her.