[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 124 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             NO MORE STEAK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, in my district, California 14, we have about 
4,000 families who are on food stamps. But some of my colleagues have 
thousands and thousands more; yet they somehow feel like crusaders and 
heroes when they vote to cut food stamps.
  Some of these same Members travel to foreign countries under the 
guise of official business. They dine at lavish restaurants, eating 
steak, vodka, and even caviar. They receive money to do this. That's 
right. They don't pay out of pocket for these meals. Let me give you a 
few examples.
  One Member was given $127.41 a day for food on his trip to Argentina. 
He probably had a fair amount of steak. Another Member was given $3,588 
for food and lodging during a 6-day trip to Russia. He probably drank a 
fair amount of vodka and probably even had some caviar. That particular 
Member has 21,000 food stamp recipients in his district. One of those 
people who is on food stamps could live a year on what this Congressman 
spent on food and lodging for 6 days.
  Another 20 Members made a trip to Dublin, Ireland. They got $166 a 
day for food. These Members didn't pay a dime. They received $50, $100, 
almost $200 for a single meal only for themselves. Yet for them, the 
idea of helping fellow Americans spend less than $5 a day makes their 
skin crawl. The faces of families of veterans, of farmers, of the 
disabled, of the working poor are not visible to them, not even when 
they are their own constituents.
  Last week, a man named Ron Shaich wrote in an article on his LinkedIn 
page about food stamps. Ron is the founder, chairman and CEO of Panera 
Bread. In his article, Ron admitted that, despite wanting to fight 
poverty and hunger in America, he really didn't know what it was like 
to be truly hungry. So this week, Ron is taking the SNAP Challenge. The 
millionaire food mogul is living on $4.50 a day.
  I've taken the SNAP Challenge in the past, and I can tell you it is a 
horrible experience. You think about food constantly. You are always 
hungry. But those on food stamps live on $4.50 every day, not for one 
week, for long into their future. That is soul crushing.
  Historically, food stamps have been part of the farm bill. It's that 
same bill that 26 corporate farmers--who remain nameless--get $1 
million each in subsidies meant for real farmers. The taxpayers are 
giving $7 billion per year to large agribusiness; yet Republicans feel 
SNAP programs cost us too much money. They want to cut it.
  Mr. Speaker, I can stand here and say that my point is about saving 
food stamps from cuts--that's true. But my larger point is about us as 
a country, as a society, as neighbors. I'm a Member of the least 
productive Congress in the history of this country; I'm ashamed of 
that. To be honest, if the Federal Government shut down for a couple of 
weeks, as we keep hearing, would Americans even notice? When a 
government of the people or for the people becomes a government in 
spite of the people, then who are we really serving? If we refuse to 
take care of those who are the most vulnerable at a tiny fraction of 
the cost of, say, our defense budget, don't we cease to be true public 
servants?
  Ron Shaich is putting himself in the worn-out shoes of 48 million 
fellow Americans. I'm ready to do the same again. I wonder how many of 
my Republican colleagues would want to cut food stamps if they had 
taken the SNAP Challenge. After all, that means no more steak, no more 
caviar or vodka. Based on these Members' eating habits, I wonder if 
they could survive.

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