151 Days Without A Vote to Lower Costs
Floor Speech
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus for their remarks on an issue that is pressing and timely for all of us. I really appreciate the ways in which so many of you have lifted your voices on the scourge that is gun violence in this country.
Mr. Speaker, I rise for this Special Order because here we are, now 151 days since the beginning of this 119th Congress, and American families have seen zero relief. Nothing has been done to help them as costs continue to rise, despite promises from the administration and the GOP congressional majority to lower prices on day one. Instead, this Republican majority is poised to make things worse through the reconciliation process.
Just one awful and cruel example is pushing $300 billion of cuts to food supports. In doing so, congressional Republicans will make groceries even more expensive for the 42 million households already struggling to put food on the table every day. Twenty thousand of those families live in my district. Eighty percent of those households include a child, a senior, a disabled person, or a veteran. Let that sink in.
SNAP isn't a luxury. It is essential. It provides $6 a day in food assistance to hungry Americans, just $6. It is a small amount, but it is enough to lift up millions out of poverty and create a foundation of health and well-being. Just $6 can create a pathway to opportunity.
Instead, Republicans want to take away food from hungry people, not to balance the budget, because we know this bill actually increases the deficit by nearly $3 trillion, and not to better serve our veterans, because this bill actually reduces funding for our vets. Republicans in Congress are doing this in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest of individuals and big corporations.
Early in my career, I was a public school teacher. I know that a hungry kid cannot learn. That is why, when I became Baltimore County executive managing a $5 billion budget that I had to balance every year, I prioritized food security and especially prioritized food security for our children.
We leveraged our very modest SNAP dollars and braided it with additional State and local funding to ensure that all kids in Baltimore County, regardless of income level, could now receive a free breakfast or lunch at every single public school--no stigma, no strident rules. We just feed hungry kids.
We feed them in the summer, too, having expanded the summer SNAP program to keep kids fed even when school isn't in session.
As a result, behaviors improved, and test scores went up, too. That was no surprise because research has proven time and time again that kids who receive SNAP benefits in school have higher graduation rates. Access to healthy foods helps develop memory, social skills, and emotional stability. All of these are critical to academic success.
A quality education is the key to opportunity. It empowers our SNAP recipients to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty.
Under these Republican cuts, Maryland and our counties would take on 50 to 75 percent of the administrative costs of SNAP.
The types of expansions we made in Baltimore County and expansions that have happened across this country will likely vanish overnight.
In fact, the Urban Institute says that as many as 18.3 million children will lose access to free school meals under these cuts.
Food banks will be overwhelmed. Children will go hungry, and it will have a domino effect: a domino effect on their education, a domino effect on healthcare costs and healthcare outcomes, and a domino effect on our economy.
A Department of Agriculture report called SNAP an economic stabilizer. One billion in new SNAP benefits would lead to an increase of 1.54 billion GDP. In other words, 54 percent above and beyond the new benefits. That seems like a much better investment to me than borrowing $4 trillion to finance tax cuts for the ultrawealthy.
I am so grateful to all of my colleagues who are joining me tonight who are speaking about the importance of SNAP and feeding our young people. We represent rural districts and urban districts, communities of means and communities without. There isn't a single Member of Congress who does not represent families who rely on SNAP's food supports to make ends meet.
We all represent families that are getting squeezed by higher costs, who are too scared to check their retirement accounts, who are putting off having prescriptions filled, or who are falling behind on rent. It is simple: These cuts will lead to suffering and we must stop them.
McClellan), who just co-anchored an incredible Special Order hour herself.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mr. Speaker, for I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; for I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
What will this House do? How will we be remembered when our service here is done? I thank the gentlewoman for her comments.
Before I yield to my next colleague, I wanted to point out one other interesting provision of this big, beautiful bill.
Currently, anyone caring for a dependent child is exempt from SNAP work requirements. Under the proposed legislation passed out of this House, that exemption would apply to those responsible only for those caring for children 6 years and younger. That means that parents or a single parent with children aged 7 or older who are currently exempt would have to meet the work requirement in order to receive SNAP benefits.
Is that how we want to treat our children, Mr. Speaker?
As we ponder that, I yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Maryland for anchoring this important Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, the bill that the House Republicans sent to the Senate would create the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to the well-off in our Nation's history. Folks who were already doing everything they can to make ends meet, working several jobs to put food on the table, and keep their kids healthy. The honest, hopeful, hardworking Americans who just want a fair shot at a better future, these are the people who stand to lose the most under the Republican bill.
These are the folks who rely on basic needs programs like SNAP and Medicaid. These folks aren't lazy. They don't want something for nothing. They just want to feed their families and to take care of their kids.
However, the Republican plan is to drown them in red tape, to kick them off of their health insurance, and force them to choose between feeding their families or paying their rent. They are waging a war of attrition on the working people and those who are most in need.
As if this outcome wasn't bad enough, what may be worse is the reason that they are doing all of this: To pay for huge tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
In an attempt to cover the cost of tax write-offs for private jets and yachts and multiple houses, Republicans are cutting back on food assistance for hungry children. I don't know how else you would describe this, but for me I think it is cruel, ugly, and evil.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her remarks tonight. At this point, it is my privilege to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Dexter).
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Representative and my friend from Oregon for her remarks tonight, Mr. Speaker, reminding us that, in fact, hunger is a choice.
We are choosing to prioritize the ultrawealthy of this country over our seniors and our veterans, over those who have sacrificed so much for this country, and over the future of this country, over our children.
We are not willing to spend $6 a day to lift up the most vulnerable among us, to spend $6 a day to feed people who are hungry and provide real opportunities for fellow Americans.
I think it is time that all of us in this Chamber take a moment to reflect about what we are doing here and what our true priorities are.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to elevate this important issue. I thank my colleagues who have added their voice to this issue. I hope that as the Senate considers this reconciliation package, particularly around the issue of food security and hunger and feeding our fellow Americans, that we take a hard look in the mirror and think about what we are doing here.
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