[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      HUNGER RELIEF ACT, H.R. 3192

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, we observed World Food Day last week, and 
we paused to recognize that hunger is still a way of life for far too 
many in America and around the world. It is for that reason that I rise 
once again to urge this House and this Congress to pass the remaining 
provisions of the Hunger Relief Act, H.R. 3192.
  This legislation enjoys the support of 186 cosponsors in the House, 
Democrats and Republicans. The companion bill, S. 1805 enjoys the 
support of 35 cosponsors in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans. 
Nearly 1,400 national, State and local organizations in all 50 States 
have endorsed the Hunger Relief.
  Editorial boards, columns, articles and op-eds from the East Coast to 
the West Coast, from the far north to the far south, have expressed 
support for the act. Among those are The Washington Post, the Lincoln 
Journal Star, The New York Times, the Oregonian, the Philadelphia 
Inquirer, the Tulsa World, the Indianapolis Star, the Dallas Morning 
News, the Newark Star-Ledger and the North Carolina News and Observer.
  In a recent letter, 25 leaders from the religious community urged the 
President and the Congress to make food stamp benefit restoration for 
legal immigrants a top priority during the final days of this session. 
Represented in that group of religious leaders are Catholic, Jewish, 
Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Mennonite, and other denominations.
  More recently, more than 25 Members of this body sent a letter to the 
President urging him to help complete this task.
  The National Conference of State Legislators, a group that supported 
the 1996 welfare reform bill, have also joined in that call. The U.S. 
Conference of Mayors and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators 
have also endorsed the Hunger Relief Act.
  In short, Mr. Speaker, there is widespread support for finishing the 
job we started earlier with the passage of the agriculture 
appropriation conference report. As a part of that conference report we 
included two vitally important provisions from the Hunger Relief Act. 
We changed the vehicle limit so that families can retain a reliable car 
without losing food stamp benefits, and we changed the shelter cap so 
that families can obtain decent shelter without losing food stamp 
benefits. At the very least, we should now restore food stamp benefits 
for all legal immigrants.
  Those legal immigrants who are now excluded from food stamp coverage 
came to America at a different time than our ancestors, but they should 
not be treated differently for that reason. They too embrace the 
promise of liberty etched on the statue in the harbor in New York. It 
seems strange that we must fight for food for those legal immigrants 
who cannot fight for themselves.
  America is a strong Nation, and we are strong because we can provide 
quality food at affordable prices. There are many places in the world 
where the same cannot be said. But the real strength of America is not 
due to our advanced technology, our economic base, or our military 
might. The real strength of America is in its compassion for people. 
The real strength of America is caring and being concerned about those 
who live in the shadows of life: the poor, the weak, the frail, the 
disabled, our children, our seniors, the hungry. America's compassion 
makes us strong.
  Less than 3 percent of the budget goes to help to feed the hungry, 
yet nearly 70 percent of legal immigrants are women, many of them with 
children.
  Mr. Speaker, hunger is more than a mere word; it is a way of life for 
far too many legal immigrants. When we passed the welfare reform 
legislation, we did some things that were right, but there was one 
thing that was wrong. We excluded legal immigrants from the food stamp 
program.
  With such broad-based bipartisan support from the Congress to the 
White House, from State legislators to governors' mansions and 
throughout the private sector, we have a chance to correct that 
mistake. Let us not go home to the comfort of our living rooms and to 
the refrigerators full of bounty while leaving legal immigrants without 
one of the most basic necessities of life, and that is food. Let us 
pass the other part of the Hunger Relief Act.

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