Joe Crowley: “I thank my friend and colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. This legislation is commonly referred to…”

“I thank my friend and colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. This legislation is commonly referred to as the ``farm bill,'' but it is also a ``food bill.'' On that note, it falls short. To be clear, this is miles ahead of where we started with what I consider a truly heartless Republican proposal, and I know that our conferees worked hard to make improvements to this bill. In particular, I want to thank Collin Peterson and the Members of the Democratic side of the aisle who are dedicated to work to improve this bill. But it still leaves too many families behind. The SNAP cut in this bill may seem small on paper, but it is not to the families that it will affect. It is not to the food banks that are already stretched well beyond their means. In New York City, 280,000 households are expected to see their benefits drop under this bill. Those are benefits that don't go anywhere near far enough to begin with. We see every day in New York City how deep the need for food assistance is. Our food banks and community hunger organizations are doing everything they can to provide food to hungry families. They are joined by citizen heroes like Jorge Munoz, who I was honored to host last night as my guest to the State of the Union. Jorge has been called ``an angel in Queens'' for his work in feeding the hungry.…”