Potential Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Floor Speech

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for 5 minutes.

Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today opposed to the potential cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, an important food program that lifts families, children, and seniors out of poverty and provides an important safety net for those in need.

SNAP is our Nation's most important antihunger program. It provides food assistance to approximately 46 million Americans, and it kept 4.7 million people out of poverty in 2011, including over 2 million children. This food program has cut the number of children living in extreme poverty in America in half.

Now, earlier this year, my colleagues on the other side approved a farm bill, but left the food for America's families behind. They passed special subsidies for Big Ag but, for the first time in decades, excluded funding for food assistance for America's families in need.

And now, months after providing special subsidies for Big Ag, House Republicans are bringing forward a bill to cut food assistance by $40 billion. Apparently, the first attempt at $20 billion was not deep enough. So they pass a farm bill that provides corporate subsidies, but they leave food for America's families behind.

In my district and in the State of Nevada, more than 71 percent of SNAP participants are families with children. Almost 26 percent of all SNAP participants are in families with elderly and disabled members, and nearly 42 percent of all SNAP families are in working families.

So House Republicans support corporate welfare for Big Ag and big business, but cut food assistance for the elderly, for disabled, and, yes, even our veterans.

We should not be cutting the safety net for our most vulnerable while maintaining costly government subsidies for the well-off junk food, oil, and gas industries.

SNAP benefits, Mr. Speaker, average less than $1.50 per person per meal. That amount is set to drop to about $1.40 this fall, when the 2009 Recovery Act's temporary benefit boost ends.

Now, the person who receives $1.50 per meal in Nevada is not the problem with the budget. The problem is corporate welfare and the special interest giveaways that litter our Tax Code.

I recently held a telephone town hall the last time the Republicans tried to gut food assistance for America's families and my constituents. I heard from families who are doing everything they can to provide for their families. I heard from seniors who are doing their best to keep their heads above water and moms who are doing their best to escape poverty. If we cut SNAP even further, we are cutting a lifeline for these families.

Now, another important constituency that is affected by this cut is our veterans. Census data indicate that nationwide, approximately 900,000 veterans receive SNAP assistance each month. An estimated 170,000 of those 900,000 veterans could be affected by the House Republican proposal to cut $40 billion from SNAP.

In my State, studies estimate that 72,184 veterans receive assistance from this important food assistance program. That means roughly one in three veterans in Nevada--one in three--receive assistance from SNAP.

Well, my question to the House Republicans is: Is this how we repay our veterans--is their sacrifice not enough?--by trying to ram through $40 billion in cuts to programs that people rely on, and then when that doesn't work, doubling down and trying to make those cuts even worse?

Military families are on a pace this year to redeem more than $100 million in food aid on military bases, and the House Republican reaction is to tell them that they need to live with less?

I can't do that. I can't tell those families, Sorry, but you haven't sacrificed enough.

I urge my colleagues to do the responsible thing, do the right thing. Avoid these draconian cuts to programs that combat hunger effectively. This isn't waste. This is a critical social safety net program that families and children and veterans rely on.

I urge this body to oppose the House Republican plan.

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