The Realities of the Food Stamp Program

Floor Speech

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chairman, I come before the House today to talk a little bit about the food stamp program. I want to talk about it because it is proposed in the farm bill that we'll be talking about soon that there will be a $20 billion cut from the program.

Now, I just thought that I would come before the House today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about the realistic implications for regular people, and maybe even to try to stand against some of the misconceptions that people may have about the food stamp program.

Last Monday, I was in my district and nearby there in St. Paul, and I and Betty McCollum sat down with a number of our neighbors and friends and colleagues to talk about the food stamp program. And we had three groups of people who were talking to us.

One was a group of people who are using the food stamp program. One of them was a senior citizen, and she was working, she was in her early sixties, got sick, couldn't work anymore, and was hoping to get to the age where she could retire and get her Social Security, get other benefits, but she wasn't quite there yet. She got sick before she did, and she needed the food stamp program.

Now, personally, as a taxpaying American, I've got no problem helping this wonderful lady meet her food needs.

Another was a young mom. Actually, she didn't have any money for child care, so she brought her baby to the meeting, who was across her shoulder in a sort of a wrap. And this young mom explained how she tried to get the best options for her baby, wanted to get back to work, but, while she was in the middle of trying to find work, needed to have good nutrition for her child.

We also talked with a person who was a young adult, 19-year-old guy, didn't get any food stamps until he passed out one day because he hadn't been eating.

And then we talked to a person who was not a food stamp recipient, but who was a health care professional in Hennepin County. She explained that the food stamp program was essential for good health because she had had a number of people, she talked about one woman in particular named Mary, who was complaining, was not taking her medication. And her doctor said, Mary, you're not compliant on your medication. Mary said, well, it hurts my stomach.

And so when the doctor talked to her more, he found out she wasn't eating, so the medication was sitting on her empty stomach. When she got some food in her stomach, she was able to take her medication and be in compliance and stay well so that she could stay out of the emergency room.

So we talked with these folks. Then we talked with people from the faith community--Jewish community, Christian community, and Catholic community--and all of them said that, look, you know, we do a lot of food aid. We're trying to make sure that folks have enough to eat; but if the government steps away from nutrition assistance, then that's just going to leave a bigger hole for us.

They talked about how their food shelves were already being used a lot, and how they already were struggling to meet the needs of the folks who came to them. So at the end of the day, they said, look, you know, we're not going to be able to step in where the government steps out.

And so at the end of the conversation, it was clear to me that, aside from statistics, aside from all the numbers, there is a human face on the food stamp program; and the cuts that have been proposed will be devastating.

Let me just tell you this, Mr. Speaker. If there was a program which said that it would improve children's math and reading scores, it would prevent diabetes, asthma and depression, it would contribute to healthy babies with fewer developmental problems, it would decrease health care costs and lower the poverty rate, would you support it?

That's the food stamp program. It needs to be supported.

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