[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             END HUNGER NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, 50 years have passed since the historic 
Stonewall riots in New York City which brought us one step closer to 
full equality for all Americans. But as we wrap up Pride Month and 
celebrate all we have accomplished over the last five decades, I want 
to take this time to raise the issue of hunger in the LGBTQ community.
  A study by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that more than one in 
four LGBTQ adults did not have enough money to buy food for themselves 
or their families in the past year. That is an alarming number. It is 
more than double the national food insecurity rate.
  The average SNAP benefit only provides about $1.40 per person per 
meal. That only covers a fraction of an individual's meals. While many 
households go to food pantries to fill the SNAP gap, some of these food 
banks and pantries are affiliated with groups that may not accept 
people for who they are. That is because discrimination due to sexual 
orientation and gender identity is everywhere. In more than half of 
the country, there are no explicit Statewide laws that protect people 
from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in 
employment, housing, and public accommodations.

  This type of discrimination has real consequences. LGBTQ Americans 
are much more likely to end up homeless, particularly as kids and 
teens, and are more likely to live in a food desert where they have 
trouble purchasing nutritious food nearby.
  As if this weren't bad enough, these numbers are even more 
devastating across racial demographics. For example, in the LGBTQ 
community, a staggering 42 percent of African Americans, 33 percent of 
Hispanics, and 32 percent of Native Americans reported being food 
insecure. That is unconscionable, and it is unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not some abstract problem. These are our 
friends, these are our family members, our neighbors, our classmates, 
and our coworkers. We should be uplifting and supporting them, but the 
numbers don't lie. Our country is facing a full-blown hunger crisis and 
the LGBTQ community--and, in particular, communities of color within of 
it--are bearing the brunt of that crisis. We cannot allow their stories 
to be erased or muted.
  We must work together to address interconnected issues like housing 
and hunger by gathering more data on how to specifically respond to 
these problems. We must increase outreach to these communities so that 
everyone who qualifies for hunger assistance programs can access 
benefits.
  Sadly, instead of working to solve this problem, this President and 
his administration have tried to roll back the clock on equality. 
Whether it is blocking questions related to sexual orientation or 
pushing half-baked rule changes to enact a definition of gender, which 
would essentially erase people from our official population counts, 
they are working overtime to threaten the rights of Americans.
  But we are working overtime to stop them. Last month the House passed 
the Equality Act which aims to extend civil rights protections to all 
Americans, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation. 
Passing this bill into law would play a key role in addressing hunger 
in the LGBTQ community. I am proud that the House has taken action, and 
I urge the Senate to do the same.
  This is Pride Month. As we celebrate the progress that our country 
has made, let us also remember all of the work we have to do to end 
hunger now.

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