[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 124 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5666-H5667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SNAP CUTS ARE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

  (Mr. DEUTCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, it's disheartening to stand here today, once 
again, to defend the meager nutritional assistance program we provide 
to families in America.
  The $40 billion in SNAP cuts put forward by the Republican majority 
is shameful. It's cruel and unusual punishment to Americans whose soft 
voices are barely ever heard in the Halls of Congress.
  Three-quarters of SNAP benefits go to families with children, and 
every week across this Nation there are parents who have to tell their 
kids, Nope, there's nothing left to eat in our house tonight. I only 
wish my colleagues behind these despicable cuts had to deliver that 
message. I only wish that

[[Page H5667]]

they had to say, I'm sorry, you've got to go to bed hungry.
  Unfortunately, my colleagues have it far too easy. They'll never know 
what it's like to be hungry. Their kids will never go to bed hungry. 
They can bring this heartless legislation to a vote without ever having 
to explain themselves to the families that they're hurting.
  Please don't let them get away with it.

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