Press Releases

 

 

Contact: 

Staci Cox

(202) 225- 4572

 

 

Washington, D.C.  – Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) stood in opposition to the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act that failed the House of Representatives with a vote of 234 to 195. 

 

“Today I proudly voted in opposition to the FARRM bill. It is my hope that we will soon pass a farm bill that sensibly reforms our nation’s farm subsidies. At the same time, we must not consider a bill that detrimentally and disproportionately impacts the poor. I am deeply disappointed that my Republican colleagues chose to vote in blind favor of their ideology and in opposition to millions of otherwise food insecure Americans, during amendment votes. 

 

“SNAP benefits are a vital lifeline for over 47 million people across our nation. The final FARRM bill would slash these benefits by $20.5 billion—negatively affecting more than 50,000 people in Wisconsin and nearly 2 million people across America. In 2012, almost half of all SNAP recipients in Wisconsin were children.

 

“House Republicans made this bad situation worse in their ideologically driven thirst to further punish the poor and pass amendments to add unnecessary drug testing and onerous work requirements to SNAP beneficiaries. 

 

“This legislation is not an issue of working to reserve SNAP benefits for those who ‘deserve’ them. It’s about criminalizing poverty, humiliating millions of people and removing food assistance from the working poor, hungry children and seniors. 

 

“Moving forward, we must extend a hand and work to lift Americans out of poverty, not clench our fists.”   

 

 

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