Congressman Jim McGovern's Statement on the Farm Bill

Statement

I thank the Gentleman from California for yielding the time, and I congratulate him for his work as a Conferee on this Farm Bill.

M. Speaker, the Farm Bill Conference Report is a mixed bag.

There are many things in this Farm Bill that I don't like.

The extravagant disaster assistance program.

Miniscule cuts to direct payments.

Unnecessary subsidies.

And the bill reduces the mandatory funding for the McGovern - Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program by $756 million.

This is a program that is close to my heart; a program that is proven to work. Named after former Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, this program feeds hungry children around the world in a school setting.

The only thing crueler than not feeding a hungry child is to feed that child for a while and then stop. That's what happened in this process, and it's flat wrong.

I ask unanimous consent that a recently published, Washington Post Op-Ed written by Senators McGovern and Dole be inserted in the Congressional Record at the end of my statement.

Let me be clear - this is not the end of our fight for funds for the McGovern - Dole Program. I look forward to working with Appropriators and Authorizers to ensure there is proper funding for this program in the upcoming appropriations bills.

M. Speaker, this is not the bill I would have written.

But a "no" vote is the wrong vote to take today, and let me explain why I will vote for this bill today.

Thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Congresswoman DeLauro, this bill includes the most sweeping expansion in the domestic anti-hunger safety net ever.

This bill will do more to fight hunger in America over the next five years than anything Congress has done in decades.

Over $10 billion will go to improve the Food Stamp benefit, to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children in schools around this country, and to invest in America's food banks.

Over 73 percent of the spending in this bill will fund the anti-hunger safety net. Damage that has been done over the years - the erosion of both the Food Stamp benefit and the emergency food assistance system, for example - is fixed in this bill.

M. Speaker, the Nutrition Title of the Farm Bill is not perfect, but it is very good.

I am voting for this bill on the strength of these improvements, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

These enhancements will improve the lives of real people around this country - people who desperately need help putting food on their tables in this time of spiking energy costs and rising food prices.

This bill will help more than 10 million people afford an adequate diet, including almost 200,000 people in my home state of Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, though, it won't end hunger in America and it won't end hunger around the world. I strongly believe hunger is political condition that requires a political solution. I believe we can end hunger here at home and around the world if we find the political will to do so.

But ending hunger will take leadership - leadership to stand up to the powerful special interests that don't care about ending hunger; leadership to stand up for the people whose interests aren't always represented here in the Halls of Congress; leadership to simply do the right thing.

And ending hunger is the right thing to do.

The face of hunger here in America is not one of sunken eyes and swollen bellies. No, the hungry in America are our neighbors, our children's classmates and the seniors we see every day. Some serve in the military and others take their kids to soccer and baseball practice all over this country.

The face of hunger is the face of too many in America, but that doesn't have to be the case any longer. This bill - the effort put forth by the anti-hunger community and by many Members of Congress - is just a start. With a continued and dedicated effort, this can truly be the beginning of the end of hunger in America.

This bill is a solid down payment on our efforts to end the scourge of hunger in America once and for all, and for that reason alone it deserves our support.

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