[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 125 (Friday, September 20, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NUTRITION REFORM AND WORK OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2013

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill.
  I opposed the first farm bill this House considered because of a 
$20.5 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
(SNAP). I opposed the second attempt to pass a farm bill, because it 
completely removed the Nutrition title of the farm bill. And I oppose 
this bill today because the Majority has doubled down on a bad policy 
with a nearly $40 billion cut to SNAP.
  Right now, as the U.S. is emerging from a great recession, robust 
nutrition programs are needed more than at any time in recent history.
  In New Jersey the number of SNAP participants over a 5 year period 
has doubled from 437,860 monthly participants in 2008, up to 875,437 
participants in June of this year. These families need just a little 
assistance in order to afford the most basic of needs--something to 
eat.
  The Majority here in the House has titled this legislation the 
``Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013.'' Some of my 
Democratic colleagues have called this bill the ``More Hunger, Less 
Opportunity Act.'' I personally think we should call the bill before us 
today the ``Malnutrition Act'' because even though 92 percent of people 
on SNAP are children, elderly, disabled, or already working, this bill 
would take the food out of their mouths, hurting nearly 4 million 
Americans next year.
  Representatives here in Congress continually punctuate their 
arguments with assertions that the U.S. is the greatest, most powerful, 
most wealthy country in the world.
  Well, the greatest country in the world makes sure that working 
families, children, seniors, veterans, and the unemployed have the 
support they need to afford something to eat.
  It is not simply the existence of wealth and power that makes the 
U.S. exceptional; it is the willingness to use that wealth and power to 
help the less fortunate among us. It is the ability of our elected 
leaders to not just make the rich richer but to make sure that the 
hungry are fed.
  I'm sick and I'm tired of these ceaseless attempts to cut spending at 
the expense of those who can least afford it, but at least I'm not 
going hungry tonight. With $40 billion in SNAP cuts I could not claim 
as much for the 4 million Americans who will suffer from the cuts in 
this bill.
  In 2011 I joined my wife, representatives from the Community Food 
Bank of New Jersey, and a local SNAP beneficiary to shop for a week's 
worth of food with the average weekly SNAP benefit of $31.50. I have 
always looked at prices when I shop, but never in the past 30 years 
have I had to watch the budget this closely. I left that experience 
with a strong reminder of what beneficiaries of federal nutrition 
programs experience week in and week out.
  When the House farm bill passed, minus the Nutrition title, the 
Majority claimed that they were not taking a position, but Democrats 
opposed the bill because we knew the position of our colleagues.
  So, thank you Mr. Speaker for bringing this bill to the Floor today, 
because now all of our constituents across the country can see clearly 
where every Member of Congress stands in the fight against hunger in 
America.

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