[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 81 (Thursday, May 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OPPOSING THE FARM BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House today to talk about 
the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. We call it the farm bill.
  It is supposed to be about supporting farmers, strengthening 
communities, making sure that we have nutritious food, looking out for 
our environment, and generally feeding America and even sometimes the 
world.
  Instead, this bill would allow companies to spray pesticides into our 
waterways, which are endangered all over this country. It will allow 
all sorts of environmental challenges and will diminish the quality of 
life for people. They won't even allow a provision to have a Clean 
Water Act permit to spray pesticides.
  The bill is also an attack on local control. I thought local control 
was a hallmark of what it meant to be conservative. Apparently not, 
because this bill preempts local governments from taking steps to 
protect their communities from pesticides. I think a local community is 
in a better position to understand the health needs of its people than 
the Federal Government is.
  The bill would also make deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program, SNAP, a program that used to be called food stamps. 
There are no actual stamps anymore; this benefit is provided on a card 
that people use. The 5-year authorization of the farm bill would cut 
$23 billion from SNAP--$23 billion.
  The proposal also adds work requirements. Now, some people think: Oh, 
yeah, what is wrong with making people work for a living? I work for a 
living.
  Well, the truth is, people who use the food stamp program often work 
for a living too. They just happen to have a tough patch in their lives 
where they need their neighbors--that is us--to step up and help make 
sure that they can have food on the table.
  The idea that people who have economic hardship don't want to work is 
simply wrong. This body gives money out to rich people all the time and 
doesn't ask for any work requirements. We don't ask for many 
requirements at all, but we do it. It is all part of this shaming and 
blaming the poor.
  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this new work 
requirement, plus other restrictions proposed by the farm bill, as 
proposed, would end up denying or reducing nutritional aid to about 2 
million people, mostly families with children.
  By the way, 70 percent of poor kids in America eligible for food 
stamps live in a household with somebody who works, but the Federal 
minimum wage is $7.25. On $7.25, that works out to about $15,000 a 
year. You could work full-time and be eligible for food stamps.
  People who don't work because of whatever difficult patch they hit in 
their life should not be shamed into not accepting food assistance. If 
they are not healthy and they are not well-fed, how are they going to 
get back in the workforce?
  Under this proposal, most adults between 18 and 59 will be required 
to work part-time or enroll in 20 hours a week of workforce training to 
receive assistance. It would impose stricter eligibility guidelines for 
low-income families who qualify for SNAP through other welfare 
programs.
  Many SNAP recipients face legitimate barriers to enrolling in these 
programs, such as unreliable transportation. One of my colleagues 
already talked about the difficulty with transportation in getting to a 
better paying job in this economy. Low housing security. A lot of 
people are homeless. It is very difficult to stay employed if you are 
homeless. And shifting childcare and medical schedules.
  SNAP helps 42 million people in nearly 21 million households. In 
2016, SNAP lifted 3.6 million people out of poverty. They were in 
poverty; now they weren't because of SNAP. It is a good program.
  In my own State of Minnesota, more than 69 percent of SNAP 
participants are families with children. Almost 30 percent are families 
with members who are elderly or people with disabilities. More than 54 
percent are working families.
  People who use food stamp benefits work hard every day. They work 
harder than many of us who earn a lot more than them.
  SNAP kept 111,000 people out of poverty in Minnesota, including 
almost 60,000 children, per year from 2009 to 2012.
  Let me wrap up by saying that the farm bill, as currently proposed, I 
cannot vote for. I will have to urge a ``no'' vote, and I hope that we 
learn something important about people who struggle hard in this 
economy.

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