[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 93 (Wednesday, June 26, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E970-E971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       FEDERAL AGRICULTURE REFORM AND RISK MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1947) to 
     provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and 
     other programs of the Department of Agriculture through 
     fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes:

  Mr. HOLT. Madam Chair, I appreciate the efforts of Chairman Lucas (R-
OK) and Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN) to craft this year's farm bill. 
The FARRM Act makes many several necessary reforms to our county's 
agricultural policy. The bill encourages organic agriculture, promotes 
specialty crops, such as fruits and vegetables, and ends direct 
commodity payments to farmers in favor of a more robust crop insurance 
program.
  I support many of these reforms, but the bill that was considered in 
the House this week could have been much better. The FARRM Act cut 
conservation programs designed to reward farmers for protecting 
drinking water and land and reduced acreage enrollment in the 
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The bill failed to place caps on 
the taxpayer's share of crop insurance premiums and increased price 
guarantees for many major crops. Additionally, the bill contained a 
provision added by amendment in the Committee that would have prevented 
states from setting their own farm and food standards.
  But the most outstanding issue with the FARRM Act is by far the $20.5 
billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 
more commonly known as food stamps. At a time when a record numbers of 
families are struggling to put food on the table the House bill would 
recklessly cleave SNAP resulting in a loss of benefits for more than 2 
million low-income individual, working families, children and seniors.
  In New Jersey the number of SNAP participants over a 5 year period 
has more than doubled from only 431,797 participants in March 2008, up 
to 873,657 participants in March of this year. The Americans who rely 
on this program are not looking for a handout or trying to game the 
system, they are individuals and families who have fallen on hard times 
and need just a little assistance to afford the most basic of needs--
something to eat.
  The average weekly SNAP benefit is $31.50 a week or about $4.50 a 
day. Half of all SNAP beneficiaries are children. 1 in 5 American 
children live in a food insecure household and 75% of households with 
food insecure children have one or more adults in the labor force. 
Overall 76% of SNAP benefits go to households with children, 16% to 
households with disabled persons, and 9% to households with seniors.
  I voted against final passage of the FARRM Act because we must stop 
trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and working 
class. A $20.5 billion cut in SNAP would harm only poorest families in 
American and disproportionately affect children, seniors and people 
with disabilities.
  As a country we must end our obsession with debt and deficits, 
especially when these reductions are coming at the expense of the 
impoverished and the hungry. We need policies that encourage economic 
growth which will allow for the creation of more jobs, higher incomes, 
and increased tax revenues that will in turn contribute to deficit 
reduction.
  There are greater savings possible elsewhere in the farm bill, such 
as placing caps on insurance premium subsides that enable some of the 
largest farms to receive millions of taxpayer dollars year-after-year.
  Rather than cutting programs that are specifically focused on the 
hungry and poor, I support policies that will create jobs and improve 
incomes, allowing in the long-term fewer household to depend on SNAP 
for their next meal.
  Now that the FARRM Act has failed to pass the House by a vote of 195 
to 234, it should be clear to the House Majority that members

[[Page E971]]

on both sides of the aisle are opposed to the SNAP cuts in this bill. I 
encourage my colleagues in Leadership and in the Agriculture Committee 
to work towards a compromise that would eliminate the SNAP cuts and 
allow for the passage of a farm bill that supports agriculture without 
hurting hungry families.

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