[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5591-H5592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             END HUNGER NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, week after week, I've stood on this floor 
and talked about hunger in America. Week after week, I've talked about 
the devastating impacts of hunger in our country--how it affects kids 
and seniors and how our country is worse off because of hunger. I've 
talked about ways we can end hunger, and have expressed my commitment 
to the effort to end hunger now.
  The problem, Mr. Speaker, is that the Republican leadership not only 
willfully ignores the plight of the hungry in America, but they are 
actually moving legislation that will make hunger in America worse.
  Just a few weeks ago, USDA released the newest data on hunger in 
America. Hunger rates have essentially stayed flat over the past few 
years. That means that, statistically, hunger hasn't gotten worse since 
the end of the Great Recession, but it hasn't gotten any better either.
  The United States has a strong anti-hunger safety net. Even though we 
have 49 million people who don't know where their next meals will come 
from, we know that nearly 48 million of them are enrolled in SNAP, 
formerly known as ``food stamps.'' SNAP is a lifeline. It provides low-
income families with access to food, access they wouldn't otherwise 
have if they were not enrolled in SNAP. Now let me address a common 
piece of misinformation, a fabrication, that opponents of SNAP continue 
to use again and again.
  SNAP is among the most effective and efficient, if not the most 
effective and efficient, Federal program in America. SNAP error rates--
overpayments, underpayments and fraud rates--are not only at all-time 
lows for the program, but they are among the lowest rates of any 
Federal program. This notion that fraud, waste and abuse are rampant in 
SNAP is a fallacy. It's a make-believe talking point designed to take 
away food from hungry people. Yet the Republicans are

[[Page H5592]]

bringing a bill to the floor tomorrow that, if passed, will undoubtedly 
make hunger worse in this country. Their bill will make hunger worse 
for working mothers and fathers, for kids, for senior citizens, and 
even for our veterans.
  CBO reports that the bill would cut 3.8 million low-income people 
from SNAP in 2014--and just so there is no misunderstanding, ``low-
income'' means ``poor.'' On top of that, an average of nearly 3 million 
people will be cut from SNAP each and every year over the coming 
decade. These are some of the Nation's most destitute adults as well as 
many low-income children, seniors and families that work for low wages. 
That's right. People who work but who don't make enough to feed their 
families will be cut from this program.
  The biggest cut affects at least 1.7 million unemployed, childless 
adults in 2014 who live in areas of high unemployment. These are poor 
people. Many don't have the skills or education they need to find a 
job. This is a group whose average income is about $2,500 a year for a 
single individual--$2,500 a year--and for most, SNAP is the only 
government assistance they receive.
  This bill also cuts an additional 2.1 million people from SNAP in 
2014, mostly low-income working families and low-income seniors. These 
are people who have gross incomes or assets modestly above the Federal 
SNAP limits but whose disposable incomes--the income that a family 
actually has available to spend on food and other needs--are below the 
poverty line, in most cases often because of high rent or child care 
costs.
  If that weren't bad enough, 210,000 children in those families would 
also lose their free school meals, and 170,000 unemployed veterans will 
lose their SNAP benefits. To top it all off, other poor, unemployed 
parents who want to work but who cannot find a job or an opening in a 
training program, along with their children other than infants, will be 
cut from the program.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember when combating hunger was a bipartisan 
issue--when Bob Dole worked with George McGovern and when Bill Emerson 
worked with Tony Hall. It didn't matter whether you were a liberal or a 
conservative--ending hunger was a priority. The current Republican 
leadership has blown all that up.
  We should not do this. There are no hearings on this bill, no markup, 
no semblance of regular order. And for what--to stick it to the working 
poor yet again? We should be doing everything we can to end hunger now. 
The Republican bill just makes hunger worse, and it should be soundly 
defeated.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge and I plead with both Democrats and Republicans 
to stand together, to come together in a bipartisan way, and to demand 
to end hunger now.
  Please, please, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, reject this 
Republican leadership bill that is coming to the floor tomorrow. It is 
cruel. It is immoral. We are much better than this. Reject the 
leadership bill.

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