On the recordJune 15, 2022
I thank Representative Pressley for her remarks. Madam Speaker, I want for us to zoom out a little bit when we think about the kind of poverty that exists in our country. There are 37.2 million Americans who live in poverty. As I have stated earlier, we have 38 million people, including 12 million children, who are food insecure. One in 25 households in the U.S. experience very low food security, where families regularly skip meals because they can't afford more food. One in 15 U.S. seniors faces hunger. That is 5.2 million seniors who are food insecure. Madam Speaker, 2.1 million households living in rural communities face hunger. Americans living in rural communities face hunger at higher rates than those in urban areas, and BIPOC communities are especially hard-hit by hunger. Rural communities make up to 63 percent of the counties in the U.S. and 91 percent of counties with the highest rates of overall food insecurity. In 2019, SNAP and school meals lifted 3.2 million people out of poverty. If we just look at Minnesota alone, 432,000 people are facing hunger, and of them, 147,000 are children. That is 1 in 13 people and 1 in 9 children who face hunger in Minnesota. In April 2022, Minnesotans made 463,000 visits to their food shelves. That is a 70 percent increase compared to April 2021. Since January 2022, food shelf visits statewide have increased by 39 percent.…
