Alan Lowenthal: “I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and I appreciate his leadership in holding this vital conversation. During my…”

“I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and I appreciate his leadership in holding this vital conversation. During my two decades in public service, I've heard many stories about how, when the economy slows down and when Americans fall on hard times, the American social safety net has helped our fellow Americans get back on their feet again. I want to talk a little bit today, my dear friend, about what a constituent told me. I want to talk about his personal food stamp success, a story that really illustrates how SNAP is an investment in the future success of Americans. {time} 2015 This young man, whose name is Stefan, from Long Beach, recently wrote to me. He said: My parents, after graduating from college in the mid-seventies, had to rely on food stamps for a period. They eventually went on to complete advanced degrees and began to have wonderful and productive jobs in the private sector and in higher education, but they are both now quick to acknowledge the essential helping hand that food stamps--and also, for this young man, the WIC program for both his sister and him--played in helping them when times were tough. Let us just remember what took place today, because these two Americans were low-income, childless adults at the time. It was for a very short period in their lives that they were low-income and also childless as adults.…”