Snap Benefits Are Needed By 42 Million Americans

Floor Speech

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Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise because it is imperative that this body move with all deliberate speed to pass a farm bill that is both responsible and enriching for the American people.

The farm bill is one of the most fundamental pieces of legislation that we enact as a government, not simply because of the dollars we dedicate, but more so because of the number of people who are supported by the passing of this indispensable law.

Unlike most of the bills we pass, the farm bill is not a dry and depersonalized legislative act. There are names and faces attached to food. There are real people in dire situations associated and connected to the success of this bill.

Unlike most of the appropriations we allocate in this body, the farm bill is a moral document that reminds us that we owe each other as human beings.

It brings us back to the fundamental things. It reminds us that the politics of the future mean nothing in the stomach of a child who is hungry.

To be sure, this bill compels us to move forward. This bill moves us beyond politics of blame so that we might embrace a more excellent way. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the farm bill is one of the few manifestations of the social contract this government makes with the American people. The SNAP program alone is a moral accomplishment that we have to reach for.

Over 300,000 people make up my district in Illinois. Almost 73,000 of those households receive SNAP benefits. Almost 40 percent of these households have a child in them, and almost 45 percent of those children have some sort of disability.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that the bill is one of the few manifestations of the social contract of this government that the American people deserve. The SNAP program alone is our moral achievement, and I say this because all of us know that 86 percent of the SNAP benefits go to the households of women and children.

Mr. Speaker, we have to move with speed. Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you. Let me tell you, there is a mutuality in this contract. We also have to understand that the state has to support the people, not simply the people supporting the state. The farm bill helps those who are in need when their backs are against the wall.

Does this bill achieve that? No, Mr. Speaker. Taking food off of children's plates is not the best of the American ideal. We say our prayers, and we pray for the food we are about to receive. We do not pray for the food that has now been removed from our table by our government.

We must, indeed, fight for the rights of all those women and children and disabled families that need our help.

This is important because the time when we ignore cities and emerging farming centers is over. In the district that I represent, we celebrate community gardens and urban farms because inasmuch as I believe that access to healthy food is a right that all human beings should enjoy, it is also a responsibility that each of us must take into our own hands. Each of us must do whatever we can to ensure that our families have the sustenance and nutrition they require for flourishing and the possibility of a great life.

We need a farm bill that is responsible. Taking food out of the mouths of the most desperate and those of the least, the lost, and the left behind cannot stand. I will be opposing this farm bill until it is more responsive and we leave SNAP alone and ensure that every family is well fed in America.

I thank Mrs. Hayes for picking up this fight.

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