[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 165 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: HUNGER IN AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. JOYCE BEATTY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 18, 2013

  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, as we begin to enter the holiday season, 
let us reflect on the devastating impact of hunger on individuals, 
families, and communities.
  Mr. Speaker--hunger is no holiday for millions of Americans.
  50 million individuals in this country are food insecure and 17 
million of them are children.
  Making sure children are well fed is necessary if America is to reach 
its health, education, economic, and fiscal goals.
  In 2011, 679,900 children in Ohio lived in food insecure households.
  On Nov. 1, the largest cuts in the history of our country's food 
stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program, went into effect when the increase given by the 2009 economic 
stimulus package expired.
  This reduction, which totaled $5 billion, has already touched more 
than 47 million people--1 in 7 Americans.
  Moreover, billions more in cuts are scheduled to occur in the 
following two years, despite the fact that food insecurity in America 
has not even begun to return to pre-recession levels.
  Mr. Speaker, we are in a hunger crisis.
  When almost 50 million people in the richest country on the planet 
hungry, that is a crisis.
  Moreover, food insecurity can have wide-ranging detrimental 
consequences on individual's physical and mental health, especially 
with the more vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and 
seniors.
  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 1 in 6 
Ohio households faced food insecurity from 2010 to 2012, up 6.3 
percentage points from a decade earlier.
  Ohio trailed only Missouri and Nevada in hunger increases during that 
same time.
  Ohioans have been left to cope with loss of employment, wage 
stagnation, slow economic recovery, and food insecurity.
  Ohioans are hurting.
  Shellie, a mother in my district expressed to me that by the end of 
every month, she has to tell her kids that all they have left to eat is 
enough food for dinner.
  There is nothing left in the pantry to put on the table for breakfast 
or lunch.
  Then there is Roberta, who was a county caseworker in my district for 
25 years and a school board member for ten years, and suffered a 
serious and sudden illness.
  Now, because of medical bills, she and her family rely on food stamps 
and food pantries.
  Another touching example is Saundra in my district, who is disabled 
and lost her job during the recession.
  Food stamps are her only recourse for food.
  There are thousands of stories like Shellie's, Roberta's, and 
Saundra's throughout our country.
  We must let our constituents know that we hear their struggles and we 
are fighting for them.
  Preventing irrational cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) is a great first step to curbing hunger.
  The large $40 billion cuts in the House version of the 2013 Farm Bill 
are unprecedented.
  SNAP should remain a part of the farm bill and I urge anyone who 
believes hunger and food insecurity should end to make sure that it 
does.
  This is a practical and moral imperative.
  I will continue to support the American people through their daily 
fight to preserve funding for these initiatives and to end hunger in 
America.
  I thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important issue.

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