This report is designed to provide members of Congress and the general public with information about the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), in light of the fact that a number of provisions of the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts are to be reauthorized during the current congressional term. It contains a description of the NSLP and its current funding levels, along with an analysis of the relationship between NSLP disbursements to schools to cover program administration costs and school participation in the NSLP. The impact of hunger and malnutrition on student achievement is also reviewed. The bulk of the report consists of five appendixes which provide: (1) a narrative legislative history and analysis of child nutrition programs enacted since 1945; (2) letters from Senators Patrick J. Leahy (Vermont) and Richard Lugar (Indiana) in support of NSLP reauthorization; (3) letters from educational groups to members of Congress supporting NSLP reauthorization; (4) letters from state agencies to members of Congress supporting NSLP reauthorization; and (5) a 90-item annotated bibliography of materials concerning child nutrition. (MDM)