Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the draconian Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act. Rather than consider a bipartisan Farm Bill that would help hungry Americans and provide certainty for farmers and ranchers over the next five years, the House has instead decided to bring to the floor a partisan measure that would hurt those most in need and has no chance of passage in the United States Senate. This legislation is wrong on many levels. First, the nutrition provisions were never intended to be considered separately from the other titles of the Farm Bill, as has been the bipartisan tradition for the past several decades. As the distinguished former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said, ``stripping the nutrition title from the [Farm Bill] . . . has severed the vital tie that helps connect our food system with those who struggle with hunger in our own backyard.'' This bill, in fact, is all pain and no gain. It is estimated that the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act will cause between four to six million low-income individuals to lose their SNAP benefits entirely. As many as 210,000 children potentially could lose their school meals and 850,000 households could see their benefits slashed by an average of $90 per month. In Georgia's Second Congressional District. which I represent and where 26 out of the 29 counties are sparsely populated and rural, nearly a quarter of the households receive SNAP benefits.…”