Press Releases

 

 

Contact: 

Staci Cox

(202) 225- 4572

 

 

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) stood with Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and other Members of the Democratic Caucus to stand up for our nation’s hungry and oppose the latest farm bill legislation rushed to the floor by House Republicans. The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 216 to 208. 

 

“For years, Congress has used the farm bill to assist both our nation’s farmers and those in need of food assistance. I oppose the effort in this bill to eliminate the link between the billions of dollars our nation will provide to subsidize farmers and millions of food insecure and hungry Americans. Yet, in an effort to pass this bill, that is just what House Republicans did when they stripped out the nutrition provisions. 

 

“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a vital lifeline for over 47 million people across our nation, including over 800,000 in our state. In fact, nearly half of all Wisconsin SNAP beneficiaries are children. 

 

“However, SNAP was not the only program eliminated from the FARRM bill today. Programs to help seniors buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as provide surplus agricultural commodities to food banks and pantries were also left on the cutting room floor. Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force knows well how important these programs are for Wisconsinites of all demographics. 

 

“Today my Republican colleagues acted callously by ignoring the needs of the working poor and their families. I will continue to speak out against such shameful and transparent attempts to use the farm bill to pit the poor and hungry against our nation’s farmers. As Members of Congress, it is our obligation to support a farm bill that helps provide food assistance to the hungry, not empty their plates. ” 

 

 

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