[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H922-H923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FARM BILL MUST NOT REDUCE FOOD STAMP BENEFITS

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last year the House did its job and passed 
a fully funded farm bill with important improvements in the food stamp 
and TEFAP programs. The Senate, unfortunately, was not so responsible.
  Now that the farm bill negotiations are under way, we hear that 
reducing funding for food stamps and food banks is on the table.
  Mr. Speaker, this farm bill should not be negotiated on the backs of 
the hungry. Feeding hungry people is never wrong, but taking food out 
of their mouths is, and that's what a reduction in the House-passed 
domestic nutrition title would do.
  Mr. Speaker, we must draw a line in the sand and say enough is 
enough. House farm bill negotiators must stand up to the Senate and 
say, ``Not this time.''
  The recently passed stimulus package does not include food stamp 
provisions, even though economists across the political spectrum agree 
that food stamps are one of the best ways to stimulate the economy.
  And now food stamps may be cut below the House-passed levels? We can 
and must do better.
  I submit for the Record a letter signed by 153 Democrats to the 
chairman of the Agriculture Committee urging him to hold the line and 
insist on the House-passed nutrition title in his negotiations.

                                                 January 30, 2008.
     Hon. Colin C. Peterson,
     Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Longworth House Office 
         Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Peterson: We want to thank you and the 
     Members of the Agriculture Committee for your hard work on 
     H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007. We 
     appreciate how well you balanced the needs of farmers and 
     consumers in the legislation. One of the key reasons for our 
     support for the bill is the inclusion of a strong nutrition 
     title that addresses the needs of the tens of millions of 
     Americans, including many children and working families, who 
     struggle against hunger by investing in and strengthening the 
     Food Stamp Program. This bill also provides needed long-term 
     support to our nation's food banks.
       As you know, hunger is getting worse in America while the 
     costs of food, housing and utilities are rising. We have a 
     responsibility to help low- and middle-income families as 
     they face these challenges. The Farm Bill is a safety net 
     that protects people from going hungry; it represents one of 
     the single most important opportunities we have this year to 
     address the needs of disadvantaged children, struggling 
     working families, seniors and people with disabilities in `` 
     our communities. We will be doing a disservice to anyone who 
     must rely on these programs if we acquiesce to provisions 
     that ultimately deny hungry Americans food in their time of 
     need.
       New investments in the nutrition title are long overdue. 
     The average food stamp benefit is a mere $1 a person a meal. 
     The $10 minimum benefit has been stuck at the same level for 
     30 years. The $2,000 limit on assets for most food stamp 
     households has not changed in two decades. And the shortfall 
     in TEFAP commodities purchases is leaving many food bank 
     shelves empty. It is vital that the conference agreement 
     secure permanent funding at no less than the House-passed 
     levels for the food stamp and TEFAP programs, and we strongly 
     urge to include these improvements in the conference report.
       We commend you for the important improvements included in 
     the nutrition title of the House-passed bill. While there are 
     also many improvements in the nutrition title of the Senate-
     passed bill, there is a profound and very troubling 
     difference between the House and Senate nutrition titles. The 
     House bill would make these provisions permanent law while, 
     under the Senate bill, all the major benefit improvements 
     would terminate after 2012. Simply, this means that these 
     important policy improvements would return to today's law, 
     resulting in a major reduction in benefits to more than 10 
     million recipients. Should these improvements sunset in 2013 
     and return to the 2008 levels, more than 300,000 low-income 
     people would be cut off from food stamps altogether. We 
     should be working to end hunger in America. We think you 
     would agree that a final conference agreement that sunsets 
     and underfunds improvements in the nutrition title would be 
     unacceptable.

[[Page H923]]

       Again, we thank you for your commitment to the issues 
     surrounding the people in our country who rely on programs 
     like Food Stamps and TEFAP. We strongly urge the conference 
     report to include permanent funding at no less than the 
     House-passed levels for the food stamp and TEFAP programs. We 
     look forward to working with you to maintain all of the 
     critical improvements in these programs in the final Farm 
     Bill.
           Sincerely,
         McGovern, James; DeLauro, Rosa; Woolsey, Lynn; Lee, 
           Barbara; Solis, Hilda; Kilpatrick, Carolyn Cheeks; 
           Moore, Dennis; Green, Al; Lewis, John; Filner, Bob; 
           Moore, Gwen; Crowley, Joe; Neal, Richard; Grijalva, 
           Raul; Maloney, Carolyn; Kildee, Dale; Nadler, Jerry; 
           Jackson-Lee, Sheila; Kennedy, Patrick; Markey, Ed; 
           Ellison, Keith; Capps, Lois; Towns, Ed; McDermott, Jim; 
           Watt, Mel; Johnson, Hank; Becerra, Xavier; Hare, Phil; 
           Shea-Porter, Carol; Arcuri, Mike; Tauscher, Ellen; 
           Jefferson, William; Wu, David; Sutton, Betty; Frank, 
           Barney.
         Davis, Danny; Allen, Tom; Cuellar, Henry; Gonzalez, 
           Charles; Carnahan, Russ; Christensen, Donna; Waters, 
           Maxine; Guitierez, Luis; Clarke, Yvette; Hinchey, 
           Maurice; Serrano, Jose; DeFazio, Peter; Hirono, Mazie; 
           Ryan, Tim; Clay, William Lacy; Schakowsky, Jan; 
           McNulty, Mike; Weiner, Anthony; Brown, Corrine; Berman, 
           Howard; Jones, Stephanie Tubbs; Doyle, Mike; 
           Butterfield, G.K.; Olver, John; Michaud, Michael; 
           Courtney, Joe; Davis, Susan; Levin, Sander; Matsui, 
           Doris; Yarmuth, John; Murphy, Chris; Fattah, Chaka; 
           Jackson, Jesse; Slaughter, Louise; Doggett, Lloyd; 
           Schiff, Adam; Stark, Pete; Loebsack, Dave; Lynch, 
           Stephen; Langevin, Jim; Oberstar, James; Rush, Bobby; 
           Meek, Kendrick.
         Rothman, Steven; Berkley, Shelly; Miller, Brad; Wynn, Al; 
           Kaptur, Marcy; Lowey, Nita; Welch, Peter; Thompson, 
           Bennie; Farr, Sam; Hinojosa, Ruben; Sestak, Joe; Udall, 
           Tom; Engel, Elliot; McCollum, Betty; Norton, Eleanor 
           Holmes; Cummings, Elijah; Wilson, Charles; Pastor, Ed; 
           Ortiz, Solomon; Murphy, Patrick; Miller, George; 
           Delahunt, William; Sanchez, Linda; Sires, Albio; 
           Larson, John; Baldwin, Tammy; Reyes, Silvestre; Wexler, 
           Robert; Watson, Diane; Hodes, Paul; Honda, Michael; 
           Velazquez, Nydia; Braley, Bruce; Price, David; Cardoza, 
           Dennis; Napolitano, Grace; Larsen, Rick; Inslee, Jay; 
           Pallone, Frank; Dingell, John; McNerny, Jerry; Tsongas, 
           Niki; Scott, Bobby.
         Cohen, Steve; Gillibrand, Kirsten; Van Hollen, Chris; 
           Murtha, John; Andrews, Rob; Cleaver, Emanuel; Brady, 
           Robert; Conyers, John; Sanchez, Loretta; Sherman, Brad; 
           Roybal-Allard, Lucille; Costello, Jerry; Lofgren, Zoe; 
           Walz, Tim; Sarbanes, John; Hooley, Darlene; Bishop, 
           Sanford; DeGette, Diana; Hall, John; Holt, Rush; 
           Bishop, Tim Payne, Donald Pascrell, Bill Eshoo, Anna 
           Higgins, Brian McCarthy, Carolyn; Davis, Artur; 
           Schwartz, Allyson; Shuler, Heath; Costa, Jim; Castor, 
           Kathy; Waxman, Henry.

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