Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding to me today to speak on one of my favorite topics. Perhaps I look at the importance of SNAP through a different set of lenses than some of my peers who sit among me. I spent nearly the last 30 years as a physician counseling and advising expecting moms. Starting a family is a special and scary time for many of my patients. Almost all of them would come to me with a list of questions and problems. And despite the variety of their concerns, many could be solved with proper and improved nutrition. SNAP assisted many of my patients in providing nutrient-dense foods for my mothers and children. The importance of nutrition in the weeks prior to conception, during pregnancy, while breastfeeding, and within the early years of infancy can never be overestimated. In the United States, one in eight people identify as being food insecure. To put that into perspective, of the 5,000 babies I delivered, 625 of them are food insecure today. The thought of this, alone, weighs on our hearts and makes them heavy, and that is why I am so proud of this farm bill's nutrition component and why we worked so hard to get it right. Our farm bill increases nutrition education, incentivizes our SNAP recipients to make healthier choices, and increases access to nutritious foods. And for those people who live in our Nation's food deserts with limited access to grocery stores, we thought about you, too.…”