Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment to ensure that a program called nutrition assistance actually delivers nutrition.

Today, SNAP is funding billions of dollars in purchases of sugary soda, products with zero nutritional value and well-documented links to obesity, diabetes, and long-term health costs. That is not what this program was designed to do.

My amendment is straightforward. It adds soda to the list of ineligible SNAP items alongside alcohol and tobacco and defines soda clearly as any carbonated beverage containing more than 1 gram of added sugar, artificial sweetener, or flavoring per serving.

Now, let's address the obvious concern: choice. SNAP participants already use multiple forms of payment at checkout. This amendment does not take away anyone's ability to purchase soda. They remain fully free to do so with cash, credit, or debit. What this does is ensure that taxpayer-funded nutrition dollars are not used for products with zero nutritional value.

We already do this in WIC. We already do this with alcohol and tobacco. The authority exists. The precedent exists.

At a time when taxpayers are funding both the purchase of these products and the healthcare costs that follow, we should at least stop financing the problem on the front end.

This is a narrow, commonsense reform that restores integrity to SNAP and aligns it with its core mission.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, I would like to address the assertion that this is too complicated to implement.

EBT systems already block thousands of ineligible items in real time. Retailers already categorize products at the UPC level. This is standard. WIC proves product-level restrictions are fully operational nationwide.

Technology has significantly advanced since earlier implementation concerns. The definition of ``soda'' is clear and administrable. Retail systems already distinguish between eligible and noneligible goods. This is not something the store has to do.

Implementation is a logistics issue, not a policy issue.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, I just want to ask one question. This amendment asks a basic question: Should a nutrition program pay for products with zero nutrition? If the answer is no, then the vote should be ``yes.''

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SELF. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source