Republicans Declare War on Poor Working Families

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, with the release of yesterday's budget, it is official: Republicans have declared war on poor working families in this country. I am deeply disappointed, but I can't say that I am all that surprised.

Yesterday's House budget once again slashes safety net programs that provide critical assistance to low- and middle-income families while offering big tax breaks to the superwealthy. I have seen this movie before. I didn't like it the first time, and I sure don't like it now.

Following in the footsteps of the recent Ryan budgets, Chairman Price's budget guts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the Nation's premier antihunger program. Like Republican budgets of past years, this year's budget converts SNAP into a block grant for States.

Mr. Speaker, this would end SNAP as we know it. Previous estimates of the impact of block granting SNAP show that it will result in about $130 billion in cuts to the program. A cut of that magnitude to SNAP would have serious harmful consequences to the 46 million Americans who relied on SNAP last year to put food on their tables.

This is the same budget that includes a number of other devastating funding cuts to programs that support children, families, and seniors. The Republican budget would end the Medicare guarantees, block grant Medicaid, and repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has helped 16.4 million Americans gain affordable, high-quality health insurance.

The Republican budget also includes reconciliation instructions to the Agriculture Committee, requiring additional cuts to programs within the committee's jurisdiction.

Mr. Speaker, I couldn't support last year's farm bill because it included an $8.6 billion cut to SNAP, but the Agriculture Committee finished its work on a reauthorization bill. It is done. We should not be reopening the farm bill in this budget process.

It is bad enough that SNAP has been cut by nearly $20 billion in recent years, with cuts coming in both the farm bill and with the expiration of the ARRA provisions that resulted in an across-the-board cut for all SNAP beneficiaries. Every single one of those who were on SNAP received a cut. We certainly should not be making hunger worse by cutting our premier antihunger program even further.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans' fixation with attacking SNAP just doesn't make sense. SNAP is one of the most effective and efficient of all Federal programs. Its error rate is at an all-time low, and that includes underpayments as well as overpayments. And in recent years, USDA has successfully cracked down on trafficking of SNAP benefits.

The purpose of SNAP is to feed hungry people, which it does. SNAP is a program that works. Without SNAP, hunger would be much worse in this country.

We know from recent CBO estimates that SNAP spending and caseloads have already begun to decline and will continue to do so as our economy continues to recover from the Great Recession. We also know that SNAP is not contributing to our long-term deficit. According to CBO, its share of the economy will continue to decline.

Mr. Speaker, we should not be balancing the Federal budget on the backs of the working poor, period. Cutting food assistance and making hunger worse in this country will not solve our fiscal challenges. SNAP is not the problem.

For Republicans, cuts to programs for low-income Americans might rally their base, but it won't solve our budget challenges. Poor and working families did not cause our fiscal problems. But time and time again, programs that help them survive tough times and provide them with opportunities to get out of poverty are always targeted for drastic cuts.

And what is especially troubling to me is that the poorest and most vulnerable Americans continue to be the target of false and often mean-spirited rhetoric in this Chamber. It is time for that to stop.

Instead of cutting SNAP, we should be strengthening the program. We should be increasing the benefits so it enables struggling individuals and families to afford more healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The current SNAP benefit is already woefully inadequate, about $1.40 per person per meal, and many families run out of food 3 weeks into the month because the benefit level already is so low.

We also should be working to address one of the biggest flaws in our social safety net, the so-called food stamp cliff, where someone gets a job and loses their benefits but still earns so little that they end up worse off and are back to struggling to put food on their table.

Mr. Speaker, we know that budgets are not just about priorities. They are moral documents that represent a vision for this country.

The vision laid out by Republicans in yesterday's budget is deeply troubling. We should be striving to make the lives of every American better. We should be striving to end hunger now. Unfortunately, the Republican budget does neither of those things. Instead, it makes hunger worse in this country. And that, to be blunt, is shameful.

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