On the recordOctober 4, 2013
Today I rise in support of House Joint Resolution 75, the Nutrition Assistance for Low-Income Women and Children Act. This bill would continue funding until December for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly referred to as WIC. Across the country, over 8.9 million moms and kids under the age of 5 are living near or below the poverty line and depend on supplemental vouchers by the WIC program to purchase healthy food. The WIC program is especially important to my constituents in the Central Valley of California. My district suffers from 14 percent unemployment. That's almost double the national average. Some regions of my district are suffering from more than 30 percent unemployment, making it nearly impossible for many mothers to find work, despite their best efforts, so that they may provide for their families. Congress must put aside partisan politics and come together, working across party lines to pass this critical legislation so that mothers in California's Central Valley and across the entire country can continue to feed their children.
