[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7044-7045]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           POVERTY IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, as the cofounder of the 
Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus and chair of the Democratic Whip 
Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, I rise today to continue talking 
about the ongoing crisis of poverty and the impact of sequester.
  We are well aware of the impact the sequester is having on many, many 
communities across the country in terms of devastating some of the 
basic social safety networks that we have all benefited from in many, 
many ways. They're really very, very harmful to our most vulnerable.
  Nearly 50 million Americans, including 16 million children all across 
our country and in every congressional district, are living in poverty. 
Yet the sequester continues to have devastating impacts on access to 
childhood education, affordable housing, hot meals for low-income 
seniors, Head Start, and countless other programs that help low-income 
and vulnerable Americans.
  But, Madam Speaker, these draconian cuts are not enough for some of 
my colleagues, given what took place last night at the Ag Committee. 
Last night, the Ag Committee passed a $20 billion cut to our Nation's 
first line of defense against hunger in the farm bill. The Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp program, 
is really a vital lifeline for millions of Americans.
  As a young, single mother, I relied on food stamps and public 
assistance during a very difficult period in my life. Let me tell you, 
no one--no one--wants to be on food stamps, but it is a bridge over 
troubled water. And so I am, quite frankly, appalled and very sad to 
see my colleagues attacking the integrity of such essential programs 
for families that need a helping hand during difficult times.
  As we work to create, hopefully, a balanced reauthorization of the 
farm bill, we must keep in mind the people, the families, and 
businesses impacted by these proposed cuts.
  Nearly half of all SNAP recipients are children. One in five children 
in America are at risk of hunger, and we know that nearly half of all 
children in America will be on SNAP benefits sometime during their 
childhood. That's half of all children in America.
  Not only does SNAP help put food on the table for struggling 
families, every $1 increase in SNAP benefits generates $1.70 in 
economic activity. Yet, if the farm bill becomes law, more than 2 
million families will be cut off from this economic lifeline.
  With unemployment still at 7.5 percent--and in some communities it's 
over 13 percent--and the rate of poverty at 15 percent--again, some 
communities, it's 27 to 30 percent--ongoing cuts to SNAP and other 
nutrition assistance programs will increase hunger in America, and we 
will see even greater consequences.
  Hungry children cannot learn in school and suffer developmental 
delays. Hungry children have worse health outcomes. Hungry children 
have bleaker economic outlooks through the rest of their adult lives. 
But the impacts don't stop there.

[[Page 7045]]

  Cuts to critical nutrition programs don't just hurt the hungry 
families who rely on them, they hurt the economies of local 
communities, as families have less money to spend in local stores. 
Allowing an increase in hunger across America will threaten our 
Nation's ability to develop the highly skilled and highly educated 
workforce that we will need to compete in the 21st century.
  We must not make cuts on the backs of hungry children to balance our 
budgets. Doing so would be morally wrong and an economic disaster.
  Madam Speaker, instead of scheduling a 37th vote to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act, we should come together to work to find an 
approach for all Americans to help get everyone back to work.
  We need a comprehensive solution to replace the sequester and to 
address the ongoing crisis of poverty. That is why, with the support of 
our Democratic Caucus, we started a Task Force on Poverty and 
Opportunity in February, which I am proud to chair. We are working to 
build support for a comprehensive national strategy to help eliminate 
poverty, grow the economy, and create millions of new jobs, and I urge 
all of my colleagues to join us.
  I also hope that our colleagues will join myself, Representative Jim 
McGovern, our Congressional Black Caucus chair, Marcia Fudge, 
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, and our Democratic Caucus vice chair, Joe 
Crowley, in taking the food stamp challenge. We need to raise the level 
of awareness of what is taking place here in Washington, D.C., and so 
what we're going to do is commit ourselves to limiting our food budget 
to the average SNAP benefit for a week. That's $1.40 per person per 
meal. We will show how vital it is to strengthen and fully fund SNAP. 
And we're asking all of those who can do this to join with us.
  We've got to protect the most vulnerable, grow the economy, and SNAP 
is one of the best programs to do just that. So it's time not to slash 
it, but to support it.

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