[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ``STOP DEMAGOGUING THE HUNGRY''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 29, 2012

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, demagoguing the hungry, unfortunately, has 
become a regular occurrence during this Republican presidential primary 
season. The truth is that the majority of the hungry struggle to put 
food on their table not because they are lazy but because of 
circumstances outside of their control. Many are unemployed at no fault 
of their own. Others simply don't earn enough and need help 
supplementing their monthly budget. But all of the hungry, all of those 
who are relying on America's anti-hunger safety net programs, deserve 
the helping hand they are receiving. And none of these 50 million food 
insecure people deserve to be demagogued simply because they have 
trouble putting food on their kitchen tables.
  Last week, I met with Andrew Morehouse, the executive director of the 
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Mr. Morehouse shared with me an op-
ed he wrote for the Daily Hampshire Gazette titled ``Stop demagoguing 
our food safety net.'' Mr. Morehouse makes a clear, coherent and smart 
argument that attacking the hungry is wrong for both moral and economic 
reasons. I respectfully urge my colleagues to read this important op-
ed.
  I submit this op-ed into the Record.

                  [From the GazetteNET, Feb. 7, 2012]

         Andrew Morehouse: Stop Demagoguing Our Food Safety Net

       Hatfield,--Former Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins made some 
     eloquent points about hunger and food stamps in her recent 
     column, ``Beyond food stamp buzzwords'' (Jan. 28).
       I, too, feel compelled to set the record straight so that 
     the general public has a more complete picture of this 
     critical issue at this juncture in our nation's history. 
     Attacks on SNAP (the federal Supplemental Nutrition 
     Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) are 
     rampant in some corners of the public discourse these days. 
     Republican presidential candidates have blamed entitlement 
     programs such as SNAP--and those Americans who receive 
     benefits from them--for the country's deficit problem.
       Newt Gingrich has even claimed that ``more people are on 
     food stamps today because of Obama's policies than ever in 
     history.''
       It's true that the number of food stamp recipients has 
     risen over the past few years, but the unemployment rate has 
     also increased 110 percent since 2006. As millions of 
     Americans find themselves out of work, those same Americans 
     seek assistance from programs like SNAP to help meet their 
     basic needs. The Census Bureau estimates that food stamps 
     helped to keep 3.9 million people above the poverty line in 
     2010.
       Equally misleading is Gingrich's characterization of SNAP 
     as a race issue, with comments like, ``I'm prepared, if the 
     NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about 
     why the African-American community should demand paychecks 
     and not be satisfied with food stamps.''
       This statement reinforces a false perception that people of 
     color are the primary recipients of SNAP benefits. The truth 
     is that 49 percent of SNAP recipients are white, while blacks 
     comprise 26 percent and Latinos 20 percent of recipients.
       SNAP received more biased criticism in a recent Wall Street 
     Journal opinion piece by Warren Kozak (Jan. 30), which 
     declared hunger in America a myth.
       Kozak claims that federal government programs like SNAP 
     waste billions of dollars providing food to people that are 
     not really in need of help. Tell that to the 110,000 people 
     in western Massachusetts alone--primarily children, elders, 
     or the disabled--who wouldn't have a meal tonight without 
     their SNAP benefits or food assistance from our region's 
     emergency food network.
       What Gingrich and Kozak don't seem to understand is that 
     SNAP is not only a lifeline for millions of households facing 
     hunger, it is also an economic stimulus. SNAP allows families 
     to put food on their table, and provides food dollars that 
     are spent locally.
       According to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional 
     Assistance, SNAP generates approximately $406 million 
     annually in total economic activity in western Massachusetts. 
     SNAP doesn't cause recessions, it responds to them until the 
     economy turns around by supporting vulnerable households 
     while injecting much-needed revenue for local food businesses 
     that employ thousands of residents in our communities.
       The fact is that hunger is a very real problem in our 
     country--and right here in Western Massachusetts. At least 
     one in every eight residents of western Massachusetts relies 
     on emergency food to avert hunger. More than 45,000 people 
     seek food assistance each month in our region, a 25 percent 
     increase compared just three years ago.
       Here at the Food Bank, we believe that no one should have 
     to go hungry. Without jobs that provide the necessary income 
     to support households, SNAP and other government nutrition 
     programs are essential to solving the hunger crisis facing 
     our country. Without these programs, thousands more 
     households in our region would find their cupboards empty on 
     a regular basis.

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