[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H1726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REPUBLICANS DECLARE WAR ON POOR WORKING FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, with the release of yesterday's budget, it 
is official: Republicans have declared war on poor working families in 
this country. I am deeply disappointed, but I can't say that I am all 
that surprised.
  Yesterday's House budget once again slashes safety net programs that 
provide critical assistance to low- and middle-income families while 
offering big tax breaks to the superwealthy. I have seen this movie 
before. I didn't like it the first time, and I sure don't like it now.
  Following in the footsteps of the recent Ryan budgets, Chairman 
Price's budget guts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or 
SNAP, the Nation's premier antihunger program. Like Republican budgets 
of past years, this year's budget converts SNAP into a block grant for 
States.
  Mr. Speaker, this would end SNAP as we know it. Previous estimates of 
the impact of block granting SNAP show that it will result in about 
$130 billion in cuts to the program. A cut of that magnitude to SNAP 
would have serious harmful consequences to the 46 million Americans who 
relied on SNAP last year to put food on their tables.
  This is the same budget that includes a number of other devastating 
funding cuts to programs that support children, families, and seniors. 
The Republican budget would end the Medicare guarantees, block grant 
Medicaid, and repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has helped 16.4 
million Americans gain affordable, high-quality health insurance.
  The Republican budget also includes reconciliation instructions to 
the Agriculture Committee, requiring additional cuts to programs within 
the committee's jurisdiction.
  Mr. Speaker, I couldn't support last year's farm bill because it 
included an $8.6 billion cut to SNAP, but the Agriculture Committee 
finished its work on a reauthorization bill. It is done. We should not 
be reopening the farm bill in this budget process.
  It is bad enough that SNAP has been cut by nearly $20 billion in 
recent years, with cuts coming in both the farm bill and with the 
expiration of the ARRA provisions that resulted in an across-the-board 
cut for all SNAP beneficiaries. Every single one of those who were on 
SNAP received a cut. We certainly should not be making hunger worse by 
cutting our premier antihunger program even further.
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans' fixation with attacking SNAP just doesn't 
make sense. SNAP is one of the most effective and efficient of all 
Federal programs. Its error rate is at an all-time low, and that 
includes underpayments as well as overpayments. And in recent years, 
USDA has successfully cracked down on trafficking of SNAP benefits.
  The purpose of SNAP is to feed hungry people, which it does. SNAP is 
a program that works. Without SNAP, hunger would be much worse in this 
country.
  We know from recent CBO estimates that SNAP spending and caseloads 
have already begun to decline and will continue to do so as our economy 
continues to recover from the Great Recession. We also know that SNAP 
is not contributing to our long-term deficit. According to CBO, its 
share of the economy will continue to decline.
  Mr. Speaker, we should not be balancing the Federal budget on the 
backs of the working poor, period. Cutting food assistance and making 
hunger worse in this country will not solve our fiscal challenges. SNAP 
is not the problem.
  For Republicans, cuts to programs for low-income Americans might 
rally their base, but it won't solve our budget challenges. Poor and 
working families did not cause our fiscal problems. But time and time 
again, programs that help them survive tough times and provide them 
with opportunities to get out of poverty are always targeted for 
drastic cuts.
  And what is especially troubling to me is that the poorest and most 
vulnerable Americans continue to be the target of false and often mean-
spirited rhetoric in this Chamber. It is time for that to stop.
  Instead of cutting SNAP, we should be strengthening the program. We 
should be increasing the benefits so it enables struggling individuals 
and families to afford more healthy foods, including fresh fruits and 
vegetables. The current SNAP benefit is already woefully inadequate, 
about $1.40 per person per meal, and many families run out of food 3 
weeks into the month because the benefit level already is so low.
  We also should be working to address one of the biggest flaws in our 
social safety net, the so-called food stamp cliff, where someone gets a 
job and loses their benefits but still earns so little that they end up 
worse off and are back to struggling to put food on their table.
  Mr. Speaker, we know that budgets are not just about priorities. They 
are moral documents that represent a vision for this country.
  The vision laid out by Republicans in yesterday's budget is deeply 
troubling. We should be striving to make the lives of every American 
better. We should be striving to end hunger now. Unfortunately, the 
Republican budget does neither of those things. Instead, it makes 
hunger worse in this country. And that, to be blunt, is shameful.

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