Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman, and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the amendment I'm offering today would create a clear set-aside for senior citizens in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. Senior hunger is a serious and growing problem, sadly, in our country. Feeding America estimates nearly 5 million seniors--5 million; 1 in 12--in 2011 were food insecure, double the number in 2001. With prices up and with what's happening across this country, we know that that number is not the top, but probably the base, and it's probably more. So, senior hunger is a growing problem, and we know the costs of food are up. In fact, 6 percent of households with an elderly person are definitely food insecure, and we know that women over the age of 85 have a poverty rate of 13.8 percent. That means elderly women have the second-highest poverty rate in the Nation. This is a great country. No single senior citizen in our country should ever have to worry about food. I remember one senior center that I went to for a small little lunch, and they put these tiny sandwiches on the plate, and they cut them in half. And I remember a senior woman, very frail, very elderly, she took half a sandwich and ate it, and then when she thought no one else was looking, she wrapped up the other half of the sandwich and put it in her purse. Unless you really see it, you don't realize how painful it is for millions of seniors across our country.…”