[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7046]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PROVIDING FOOD STAMP SAFETY NET

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, our farms and ranches produce food products 
in amounts that greatly exceed our nutritional needs. There is no 
reason for anyone in this country to go hungry. And yet, that is a 
daily reality faced by many poor families.
  The food stamp program provides a small but essential safety net to 
meet the nutritional needs of children, the elderly, the disabled, and 
those who fall on hard times when our economy sheds jobs.
  The proposed cuts to the food stamp program included in the House 
farm bill are unacceptable and cruel. Poor nutrition leads to poor 
health outcomes and long-term developmental problems in children. It 
does not save money. It simply transfers costs to those who cannot pay 
those costs and needlessly increases suffering. We can afford to feed 
all of our citizens. A farm and food policy that cannot deliver 
nutritious meals to all Americans is indeed failed policy. We can and 
must do better.

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