[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1206-E1207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MARCIA L. FUDGE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 2019

  Ms. FUDGE. Madam Speaker, over 40 states and territories use Broad-
Based Categorical Eligibility or Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility 
(or BBCE) to streamline the administration of SNAP and provide critical 
assistance to households receiving benefits and services through the 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.
  BBCE is proven to help millions of working poor families move toward 
financial security, by easing the benefits cliff as their earnings 
increase.
  On July 24, 2019, USDA published a proposed rule to restrict the use 
of BBCE and eliminate SNAP benefits for an estimated 3.1 million 
Americans. This includes children, working families, military veterans, 
disabled individuals, and seniors.
  Most shameful is the proposals impact on hungry school-age children. 
By USDA's own estimates, the new policy would take away direct access 
to free school meals for at least 500,000 schoolchildren.
  Nearly half a million children would be left to go hungry during the 
school day, shifting the burden to strapped school districts.
  In my state of Ohio, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 
over 61,000 SNAP households would lose their benefits. USDA reports 
that in 2017, the prevalence of food insecurity among Ohioans was 
higher than the national average.
  13.7 percent of Ohioans were food insecure in 2017, compared to 12.3 
percent nationally.
  Even USDA admits the proposed changes to SNAP will make food 
insecurity worse and make it harder for millions of Americans to get 
by.
  Most notably, it would remove the current flexibility for states and 
territories to use BBCE to tailor SNAP to best meet the food needs of 
their own populations.
  Republicans love to talk about states' rights when it suits them, but 
when it comes to the flexibility of states to meet the needs of their 
food-insecure populations, they want something very different.
  As the economy continues to leave working families and our most 
vulnerable behind, programs like SNAP are needed more than ever.
  Congress already debated these issues.
  We came together and rejected this policy in both the 2014 and 2018 
farm bills with a record bipartisan vote.
  This proposed rule is shameful and cruel and is contrary to the will 
of Congress.
  This unilateral action by the Administration only complicates 
legitimate bipartisan efforts to make programs like SNAP more effective 
and efficient for the millions of people who rely on it to put food on 
the table.
  We should be working together to strengthen the safety net, not 
weaken it.
  I urge USDA to rescind this harmful proposed rule immediately and 
finally make good on its promise to the American people to ``Do Right 
and Feed Everyone''.

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