Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. I thank my colleague from Ohio.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this disastrous bill that cuts $40 billion from SNAP, a vital program that feeds over 442,000 New Mexicans, half of whom are children.

I want to share the story of LaNae Havens, which shows just how much SNAP means to the people in my district.

LaNae is a single mother with a handsome 9-year-old son named Konnor. She works full time, but she doesn't make a lot of money. She has to pay for childcare, rent, transportation to work, utility costs, and all the other expenses families face. That doesn't leave much money for food--and certainly not for the healthy, nutritious food that growing children need.

Konnor suffers from anemia. Without her $33 a week in food assistance, LaNae says there's no way she is able to feed her son the protein- and iron-rich foods he desperately needs. She is terrified of what happens if she loses SNAP.

I did the SNAP challenge, and it's just enough to get by. You can't buy fresh vegetables. You can't buy enough protein. The thought that we would make it even less for those Americans who need it is unconscionable. I don't want Konnor to go hungry.

I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this bill.

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