Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. EVANS. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. When Ranking Member Peterson, who has done four Farm Bills and is one of the most moderate in our Caucus, is upset with the process and the result, it tells you that the well has been poisoned. But let me tell you a little about me and why I chose to be on the Agriculture Committee.

I came from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where I was proud to serve as Chairman of the state legislature's Appropriations Committee for twenty years.

There, I was able to secure billions of dollars for state programs that addressed urban and rural needs, roads and bridges, schools, the first Healthy Food Financing Initiative, and most importantly, many, many Agriculture programs around the entire state of Pennsylvania.

We should be in the business of first doing no harm, but here we are trying to pass off the Farm Bill as bipartisan, when in fact, this is an assault on the working poor, the disadvantaged, seniors, and veterans.

Mr. Speaker, in Pennsylvania that would translate to an additional 199,000 individuals between the ages of 50 to 59 who would face cuts to their SNAP benefits. It is more difficult for older individuals to find work when unemployed and many people want to work more than 25 hours, but simply cannot due to lack of available hours, children, or age.

Almost 2 million Pennsylvanians benefit from the SNAP, with over 215,000 in my District alone, and with the majority of benefits going to those in great need. This bill before us is unworkable for Philadelphia. It fails them, the process fails them, and for that I give this bill an F.

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