[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7248-H7249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              USDA RULE CHANGE WILL KICK MILLIONS OFF SNAP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
administration's proposal, its recent attack on some of the most 
vulnerable Americans, the 38 million people who rely on the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP.
  The USDA, United States Department of Agriculture, announced 
yesterday a rule change to the eligibility for the program. This change 
would kick millions of Americans--seniors, children, and their 
families--off a program that provides critical assistance. It is a 
safety net.
  This change would weaken our ability to provide support for working 
people who are struggling to get by month to month.
  It would have a huge impact in my district. Unfortunately, 25 percent 
of my constituents depend upon the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program monthly to provide nutrition for themselves and their families.
  As a member of the conference committee that negotiated the 2018 farm 
bill, these suggestions were a part of the discussion. We opposed them. 
We fought successfully to include expanded SNAP eligibility 
requirements, and Congress agreed.
  That is why I fought to expand the employment and training programs 
that we do in SNAP in the Fresno Bridge Academy, to equip recipients 
with the necessary tools to get back on their feet, to make them self-
sufficient. That is what we should be doing.
  Guess what: The President supported it when he signed the farm bill 
into law last December. He needs to remain consistent.
  I will fight for families, for seniors, and for children. The bottom 
line is this: SNAP is a helpful program to support people in their time 
of need with achieving self-sufficiency. It is part of America's safety 
net.
  We must block this egregious attempt to administratively do what 
Congress did not do last December.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand with me and oppose this 
attack on some of our Nation's most vulnerable populations.


    Highlighting the Achievements of the House in the Last 6 Months

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I call to the attention of the House of 
Representatives what we have achieved in the last 6 months, many of 
these pieces of legislation on a bipartisan basis.
  We have passed 10 bills to reduce the price of healthcare; lower 
prescription drugs costs, which our communities want us to do; and 
strengthen protections for people with preexisting conditions--reducing 
the cost of drugs and

[[Page H7249]]

strengthening protections for preexisting conditions to protect those 
individuals.
  We passed the Equality Act to ensure that every American enjoys the 
same rights and is protected equally under the law. The Equality Act is 
so important.
  I fought to improve our water infrastructure, to address the strain 
on this precious resource brought by drought and climate change to 
ensure that we have clean, safe drinking water for all of our 
communities.
  In the San Joaquin Valley, sadly, we have many communities that don't 
enjoy clean, safe drinking water standards.

                              {time}  1015

  I have worked hard to implement the farm bill, to lead education and 
outreach programs for farm programs to help farmers improve not only 
their water sustainability, but their ability to market their crops.
  In immigration, we have passed the funding bills to help alleviate 
the humanitarian crisis at our border and advanced legislation to 
secure a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants 
currently living in the United States; our Dreamers, over 800,000, who 
came here through no choice of their own, and for them America is the 
only country they have ever known. They need and deserve legal status.
  I am proud that, in the last 6 months of work, this week we will 
consider H.R. 3239, the Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in 
Customs and Border Protection Custody Act.
  Many of us have been to the borders, and we do have a humanitarian 
crisis there, and we need to do what is right. We need to ensure that 
those individuals receive good standards of water, beds, and access to 
healthcare, and that they are treated humanely. That is the American 
way. These are basic living standards.
  Finally, the budget deal that was agreed to on a bipartisan basis 
over the weekend is important, not only as it relates to our 
discretionary and non-discretionary spending for the next 2 years 
lifting the budget cap, but in addition to that, to ensuring that we 
produce a budget on time; that we avoid a government shutdown; that we 
ensure that our men and women serving in American Armed Forces have the 
adequate funding that they need; that our veterans get the support and 
our VA hospitals that we have promised them.
  These are the things that are part of an overall budget deal. It 
avoids the kind of circus that we had over the last year where we had a 
government shutdown, a government shutdown we should never have. We 
should never have that impact on our economy; our Federal workers to be 
expected--whether they be in air traffic control or food safety--to go 
to work and not to receive a check. That is irresponsible.
  So the budget deal is good. It is a bipartisan effort. It, frankly, 
gives the sort of discretion that Congress needs to make budget 
decisions to prioritize our needs in America.
  So, for that, I thank the Congress.

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