Jim McGovern

All of us here are very much committed to eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse not only in the SNAP program but every program that the government oversees.

SNAP error rates are at historic lows and are at levels unseen in both the public and private sectors.

SNAP is not only one of the most efficiently run programs at USDA, is one of the most efficiently run programs in the federal government.

I am hopeful that any cuts to agriculture are reasonable and fair compared to other parts of the budget.

The sugar program is working as it is supposed to, it is administered well and it is something we should not mess with.

I think everybody, Republican and Democratic, are all committed to trying to end hunger in America.

I do have a request in to the President calling for a White House conference.

I would urge you to help me convince the President to go ahead with that conference.

We need to connect the dots because ending hunger is not just about SNAP, it is not just about WIC, it is about a whole bunch of other things.

I would urge you to proceed with extreme caution on both of those things.

People need to be able to put food on their table, and this program allows them to be able to do that; not only to put food, but to put healthy food on their table.

These are really vital programs. I think all of us when we go into our districts, we see people who are in really tough situations.

I think repealing Cat El would decrease participation and make it more difficult and costly for states to administer the SNAP Program.

If the economy gets better, the amount we spend goes down.

There is not a community in this country that is hunger free.

I don't think all programs are equal, and certainly programs that provide nutrition and food to people in this country to ensure that they don't go hungry I think need to be prioritized.

We have been very aggressive in working with states to help them understand both how to reduce improper payments and the importance of continuing to reduce improper payments.

Make no mistake, in these tough times, the Federal nutrition programs are the safety net between hunger and health for millions of Americans.

I appreciate your offer to work with us and I look forward to working with you.

I am particularly interested in reaching out to smaller and medium-sized farms and smaller producers as well as speciality crop producers.

Which means that thousands or tens of thousands or millions of people will not be able to get food?

I think we need to do a better job of lifting this issue up and I think USAID and the Secretary of State and Secretary Vilsack have done a really good job with Feed the Future.

I mean, there is not an actual constituency out there to tell Members, please continue to vote for a robust food aid budget for international food aid programs.

My understanding is that these programs are pretty well run by independent analysis, and sometimes there is this perception out there that all we need to do is cut more overhead here and staff here.

I am worried because hunger is one of those things that doesn't seem to be getting better.