On the recordSeptember 19, 2013
Yes, Colorado has been a leader, but the bill specifically gives States the ability to spend savings any way they choose. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Negrete McLeod), another one of my colleagues on the Agriculture Committee. Mrs. NEGRETE McLEOD. Madam Speaker, I strongly oppose the proposed cuts offered by H.R. 3102. As a member of the Agriculture Committee, I am greatly concerned that this is a $39 billion cut to our Nation's most powerful antipoverty tool--a tool because each month SNAP helps feed 3.4 million households with elderly individuals. In 2011, 4.8 million Americans over the age of 60 lacked access to food. Some seniors are already making the decision between food and their medicine. Cuts to SNAP will only intensify the problem, setting seniors into deeper destitution and hunger. I ask the bill's supporters: How will these Americans eat without the means to afford food? I urge my colleagues to remember the most vulnerable constituents in their States and to vote ``no'' on this bill.
