Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2112, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in opposition to this misguided rule.

It unravels the bipartisan work of our Appropriations Committee. It calls for even more drastic cuts to the Women, Infants, and Children food program than has already been suggested by the majority. In so doing, the rule puts the interests of Brazilian cotton farmers above the very real needs of American women and children.

Everyone knows the WIC program provides nutrition assistance grants to States for low-income pregnant, breast-feeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to the age of 5. It serves 9 million mothers and young children nationwide, including 58,000 in my State of Connecticut. Nearly half of the babies born in the United States every year participate in the program. It is a short-term intervention that can help provide a lifetime of good nutrition and health behaviors.

Even notwithstanding this rule, this appropriation bill already threatens to slash WIC funding by $650 million. WIC is being slashed by $650 million. That means as many as up to 300,000 women and children will be turned away and forced to go hungry. In fact, Secretary Vilsack, the Secretary of the Agriculture Department, has warned our subcommittee that this number could be as high as 750,000 people, and I have his letter and his quote to confirm that.

Now, understand that during the committee consideration of this, I had an amendment to restore $147 million to the WIC program. I paid for it by taking $147 million which we currently provide to Brazilian cotton farmers. That amendment passed with a bipartisan vote.

This majority has no problem spending money for Brazilian cotton farmers, but they are loathe to do something for women and children in the United States. What this rule by this Republican majority has done is they took away this $147 million, they gave it back to the cotton farmers in Brazil, and then they have said find $147 million, cut it from the WIC program or cut it from somewhere else in this bill.

What are we doing here? Whom are they trying to fool? We're going to give the money back to Brazilian cotton farmers. The majority decided that that was more important. That's a fact.

There are many egregious cuts in this appropriation bill, not just to WIC, to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which goes to low-income seniors.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Thank you.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which goes to food banks, food pantries.

One out of five people in the United States today is going hungry, and we can't find it within our purview here to provide the funding to do that.

Again, Democrats and Republicans on the committee voted to take $147 million, provide it to the WIC funding, take it away from the Brazilian farmers. This Rules Committee, Republican directed, took the money and gave it back to the Brazilian cotton farmers.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, take charge of what we did on our committee. Stand up for American women and children. Reject this rule. This is not what we voted for. This is not what the American people want.

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