End Hunger Now

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, antihunger advocates across the country have been sounding the alarm that hunger is increasing at a disturbing rate. In my district, I am seeing longer lines at food banks, empty shelves at pantries, and people skipping meals because they can't afford food.

A new report from the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms that about 3 million more people live in households struggling with food insecurity in 2023 than in 2022. In total, 18 million households, 47 million people, are struggling to feed themselves and their families. It is shameful.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more investments in our antihunger and antipoverty safety net helped feed people, and we saw hunger decrease.

Sadly, Republicans blocked extensions of these programs, and now, we have seen hunger increase.

We have the roadmap. We know what to do. What we need is the political will to follow it.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in demanding a bipartisan farm bill that improves our Federal nutrition programs, a tax bill that reinstates the expanded EITC and child tax credit, and legislation to implement the Biden-Harris administration's National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

Together, we can end hunger now.

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