[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 24 (Monday, February 10, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1689-H1690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               BREAD FOR THE WORLD'S ANNUAL HUNGER REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.

[[Page H1690]]

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to and 
highlight Bread for the World's annual hunger report. This year's 
report is entitled, ``Ending Hunger in America.'' Frankly, it couldn't 
be more appropriate or timely.
  Mr. Speaker, over 49 million Americans go hungry every year, and we 
in the Federal Government--we in this Congress--are not doing nearly 
enough to fight to end hunger in this country. In fact, over the past 6 
months, Congress stood by and let an $11 billion cut to the premier 
antihunger safety net program, SNAP, take effect. To make matters 
worse, Congress followed up by enacting another $8 billion cut to SNAP 
as part of the farm bill. We should all be ashamed.
  The fact is Congress continues to make it harder and harder for the 
hungry in America to make ends meet and put food on their table. 
Although the Obama administration came into the office under the most 
difficult economic conditions in nearly a century, they also came in 
with a lot of promise. In fact, President Obama came in with, among 
other things, a pledge to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. That 
goal was achievable. Unfortunately, we have gone backwards over the 
past 5 years.
  While I still believe there is time for the Obama administration to 
turn this around and make some real headway in the fight to end hunger, 
the sad reality is we are not going to end child hunger in America by 
2015, and may not even make a significant dent in hunger by the end of 
this administration.
  Just because President Obama will not meet his stated goal doesn't 
mean we should give up. That is why I am encouraged by this report from 
Bread for the World. First and foremost, it is refreshing that this 
report is honest and blunt. It rightfully states that hunger is a 
subset of poverty and that we can't truly end hunger without addressing 
poverty.
  Just look at a few of the statistics listed in the report:
  The average incomes of the top 1 percent of households rose by 19.6 
percent in 2012, while the incomes of the other 99 percent grew just by 
1 percent.
  Nearly two-thirds of SNAP recipients are children, elderly, or 
disabled. Among SNAP households with children and at least one working-
age, nondisabled adult, 62 percent work while receiving SNAP and 87 
percent work in the prior or subsequent year, which hopefully should 
put to rest this distortion that somehow people on SNAP don't want to 
work.
  Another statistic here is that while children make up roughly 24 
percent of our total population, they comprise one-third of the 
Nation's poor.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that poverty must be addressed because that 
is the root cause of hunger. But Bread for the World lays out 
achievable and timely goals, goals that are not pie in the sky but 
actually doable. They call an end for hunger in America by 2030, and 
they do so in a four-point plan: one, a jobs agenda; two, a stronger 
safety net; three, human capital development; and four, public-private 
partnerships to support community-led initiatives against hunger.
  They call for achievable goals of a 25 percent reduction in hunger by 
2017, a 50 percent reduction by 2023, and completely ending hunger by 
2030. We can do this if we make the political decision to focus on and 
commit to ending hunger.
  I fully support this plan. I only want to move quicker to achieve the 
goal of ending hunger. This report rightly states:

       Ending hunger in the United States will require leadership 
     not only at the Federal level, but also the State and local 
     levels.

  We already have Governors and mayors who are working to combat 
hunger. Governors Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Don Beebe of 
Arkansas are committed to this effort. Former Boston Mayor Tom Menino 
was a leader; and I know the new mayors of New York and Boston, Bill de 
Blasio and Marty Walsh, are just as committed. And they aren't the only 
ones, but we need more help and commitment. The White House should 
convene a conference on food and nutrition to build on the 
recommendations in the Bread for the World report and come up with a 
comprehensive, holistic plan to end hunger in America.
  Hunger at its core is a political condition. We know how to end it. 
We have the food and the resources to end hunger once and for all; we 
just don't have the political will to do so. Bread for the World, 
through this annual report and through their everyday actions, is 
trying to build the political will to end hunger in America. I know we 
can do it.

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