This reflects a failure of government to respond adequately.

If we want to talk about improving access to food, we should be discussing ways to increase SNAP benefits.

That is allowed, right?

Block-granting SNAP is a bad idea, period.

It is a bad idea to radically change the SNAP Program. It is working as intended.

But I also have concerns with proposals that would limit the ability of smaller format retailers to participate in the SNAP Program, which would prevent SNAP recipients from access to food.

If you cut anything, it should not be peoples' food.

We will face limited resources in 2018 when we begin to authorize the farm bill.

Charities can't do this alone.

many of these poor individuals who will be cut off are veterans, they have honorably served our country, and some of them are now deeply struggling.

The SNAP Program is a powerful tool for improving nutrition, insulating families against hardship, and lifting people out of poverty.

It is important that people be able to have some flexibility with their EBT card.

Kids who go to school, who are hungry, don't learn. There is a cost to that.

Maybe we ought to be talking about raising the minimum wage to a livable wage, because the majority of people on SNAP who are able to work, work.

SNAP is one of the most efficiently and effectively run programs in our Federal Government, with one of the lowest error rates of any program.

The notion that we are going to impose more requirements, more hoops for people to jump through... is cruel.

It is not a boon, it is, in fact, a very limited existence.

These people are not lazy.

the benefit itself is woefully inadequate, $1.40 per person, per meal, per day.

What we shouldn't do in this Committee is make it more difficult for them, and especially our veterans, during a time when the economy is still in recovery.

We need to do everything we can to get our economy moving so we can get people the jobs that pay a livable wage.

Thank you. That is a very powerful argument against block granting.

We live in the richest country in the history of the world, and we have a big chunk of our population that doesn't know whether they can put food on the table.

Simply put, SNAP is working.

Presumably, that has been important, since some parts of your state continue to have unemployment that exceeds ten percent.