Weigh Our Options Before Cutting SNAP

Floor Speech

Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong opposition to H.R. 3102, calling for a $40 billion cut in critically needed funding for nutrition assistance programs.

You know, Mr. Speaker, struggling to encourage my Republican colleagues to take a walk in the shoes of those who suffer from food insecurity has become uncomfortably common in this Chamber. In this House, we have moved beyond poor economic doctrine and immoral social policy, and we're now dealing with the very dangerous mindset that the weakest in our society are to blame for their condition.

Instead of taking away food stamps, we should be encouraging jobs. That we should be encouraging smaller assistance for those who are in need is not, I think, the way that this policy should go. We should be incentivizing companies to provide a living wage. And I think it's hypocritical for us to value the sanctity of life while neglecting policies that ensure all Americans have a better quality of life.

Mr. Speaker, 54 percent of the households in my district receive SNAP. I think that it's really important that we remember the people that we're sent here to represent.

Source