[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8875]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE SNAP CHALLENGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I, along with many of my 
colleagues and scores of antihunger advocates, began the SNAP 
challenge. I will live off of the average SNAP benefit of $4.50 per 
day. That's $31.50 for 7 days. The SNAP challenge is not a new fad 
diet. It's not a weight loss scheme to get ready for the summer. 
Rather, it's a way of raising awareness not only how important this 
program is in combating hunger in America, but also about how 
inadequate the benefit truly is.
  Being on SNAP is not easy. To qualify, you have to have an income 
under 130 percent of poverty. That's under $25,000 for a family of 
three. Let me repeat that. A family of three has to earn less than 
$25,000 to qualify for SNAP. And the average benefit is only $4.50 a 
day. That's not much to live off of.
  Mr. Speaker, we all know that rent is high, utilities are high, 
transportation costs are high, and food prices are high. Yet the SNAP 
benefit is still so inadequate that it typically doesn't even last an 
entire month. In fact, the average SNAP benefit typically lasts just 21 
days out of the month, leaving a family or individual 9 or 10 days 
without support.
  Yesterday, I experienced firsthand how difficult it is to shop on a 
fixed budget that must be stretched for a fixed amount of time. I'm 
fortunate enough that I don't have to count every penny when I shop. 
But with $31.50 for the week, I didn't have the luxury to buy very many 
fresh fruits and vegetables, let alone organic ones. It took me a lot 
longer to shop because I had to make sure that I didn't go over my 
budget. And I know that my meals will be smaller than they normally 
are.
  Now, don't get me wrong when I talk about my shopping experience and 
my participation in the SNAP challenge. For me, this challenge will be 
over in a week. Going into this, I know that I only have to endure this 
for 7 days. But for millions of hardworking Americans who don't earn 
enough to make ends meet, they could be on food assistance for a lot 
longer.
  This is not about me and it's not about my colleagues. It's about the 
program. It's about SNAP and the fact that SNAP works. More than 47 
million Americans rely on this program to help put food on their 
tables. They're not looking for a handout; they're looking for a hand 
up. Americans are proud and they are industrious.
  We like to do things on our own, but we don't turn our backs on 
people in need. That's one of the things that makes America great. We 
take care of our own, and that's what SNAP does. It's a way of helping 
our own--our brothers and our sisters, our children and our seniors, 
our friends and neighbors, even strangers--and it does so by helping 
those who simply don't earn enough to make ends meet.
  Those of us taking the SNAP challenge are using our positions here to 
raise awareness of the program. We're using our positions as Members of 
Congress to tell the American people that SNAP works. We're here to 
tell our House colleagues not to cut this important program.
  This SNAP challenge, starting today and lasting through next 
Wednesday, will likely coincide with floor consideration of the farm 
bill. That bill includes $20.5 billion worth of cuts to SNAP, cuts that 
will kick 2 million people off of SNAP altogether and 210,000 kids off 
the free school meal program. And those cuts, if enacted, will come on 
top of the looming across-the-board SNAP cuts that will happen in 
November. That cut will result in a family of four receiving $25 less 
each month for food.
  Now, I believe we can end hunger now if we just find the will to do 
so. I believe we need White House leadership to do so. I continue to 
call for a White House conference on food and nutrition to address 
hunger and nutrition issues in this country. But I also believe this 
House must do the right thing. This House hasn't held one single 
hearing about hunger in America or about the SNAP program.
  Opponents of SNAP talk about the program being full of fraud, waste, 
and abuse. It is not true. It is simply not true. Less than 2 percent 
of ineligible people are actually on SNAP. And for all their bluster, 
these opponents have never once talked about how to strengthen the 
program. That's because they don't care about the program. They just 
want to cut it. They want to eliminate it.
  I'm taking this challenge to make a difference. I'm going to blog, 
I'm going to tweet, and I'm going to talk about my experiences to show 
that SNAP works, and I will do everything I can to push back and to 
fight these cuts. Reducing the ability of poor people to buy food is a 
rotten thing to do. If we can't restore the SNAP cuts, then I will do 
everything I can to defeat this farm bill because Americans deserve 
better.
  Join me in this fight. Let's end hunger now.

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