[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 4714]]

  FEED THE POOR AND HUNGRY CHILDREN IN AMERICA WITHOUT FRAUD AND ABUSE

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, I support giving all the help we can to 
poor, hungry children in America, but when the programs that are 
supposed to help children are wasting money instead, that is a problem.
  A recent review by the House Committee on the Budget found that the 
food stamp program made an estimated $1.4 billion in improper payments 
in 1998, because food stamps are like currency, they can be easily used 
for fraudulent purposes.
  For example, 14 members of an Indiana gang stole $728,000 worth of 
food stamps from four county welfare offices and proceeded to trade 
them for cocaine and explosives.
  In 1995 and 1996, a total of $8.5 million in food stamps were paid 
out to 26,000 dead people in four States. No one knows who cashed in 
the benefits.
  These are types of blatant fraud and abuse that hurt the children's 
food stamps that were designed to help and we need to do something 
about it.

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