[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

  (Mr. HEFLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, the Food Stamp Program is designed to help 
indigent families feed their children. This is a noble goal.
  Unfortunately, widespread abuses in the food stamp program cost 
American taxpayers an estimated $1.4 billion in 1998 due to improper 
payments.
  That is money denied to thousands of poor American children 
throughout the Nation. In fact, food stamp reforms such as the 
electronic benefits system, the EBT, which has replaced food stamps in 
29 States, have actually generated more welfare fraud.
  In one instance, two people in Beaumont, Texas, were convicted of 
trafficking in EBT food stamp benefits in exchange for crack cocaine. 
And in another, the owner of a meat and seafood market redeemed more 
than 331,000 in EBT food stamp benefits, even though virtually no food 
was purchased.
  We cannot let this continue. For the sake of our children and for the 
sake of the taxpayer, we must do a better job of eliminating waste, 
fraud, and abuse.

                          ____________________