[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SNAP AND THE FARM BILL

  (Mrs. NEGRETE McLEOD asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. NEGRETE McLEOD. Mr. Speaker, I want to call attention to the 
seriousness of the proposed $40 billion cut to the nutrition bill. As a 
member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am gravely concerned with 
this bill, as it circumvented proper deliberation before the 
Agriculture Committee. This bill lacks the transparency required by the 
American people and is outside the custom and practice of all past farm 
bills this House has passed.
  I am ready to vote for a farm bill, but we are no closer to finding a 
compromise than we were 6 months ago. This issue is about Americans' 
ability to eat, as our country struggles to come out of the greatest 
financial crisis since the Great Depression.
  SNAP is a vital tool in empowering Americans in a challenging economy 
and should not be the sole factor in solving the Nation's long-term 
fiscal problems. Costs for the program will shrink as the economy 
improves and people are able to do exactly what Americans want to do: 
put food on the table.

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