[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13947]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              LET'S CUT POVERTY, NOT NUTRITION ASSISTANCE

  (Ms. BONAMICI asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans rely on the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to put food on the table. But 
H.R. 3102, which we'll consider later today, will let families in our 
districts go hungry. The cuts contained in the bill could leave behind 
about 120,000 Oregonians who are still struggling to recover from the 
recession. That's a huge number and will reverberate throughout our 
communities. Some might say that charitable institutions can make up 
the difference, but that's just not so. They're already struggling to 
meet demands. Without SNAP, millions of Americans will go hungry, plain 
and simple.
  We shouldn't be trying to balance the budget on the backs of hungry 
families. The bill that will be up today outright abandons them. If 
we're really concerned about the cost of SNAP, we should focus on 
addressing the root causes of hunger. Let's cut poverty, not nutrition 
assistance.

                          ____________________