Tony Hall: “I have no objection to this bill, certainly, going forward at this point, but I just want to say that I hope we are all…”

“I have no objection to this bill, certainly, going forward at this point, but I just want to say that I hope we are all perfectly clear that this budget-neutral bill will go to a conference with the Senate measure, S. 1150, that contains over $1.2 billion in new spending, offset by savings from prohibiting States from double-billing the Federal Government for food stamp administrative costs. I do not have a problem with the offset, but it is, nevertheless, a huge amount of money coming out of the food stamp program. I understand that some of these funds may be needed for agriculture programs. However, in the final conference agreement, it is imperative that a substantial amount of savings be used to address what is perhaps the most pressing hunger problem facing the country today, and that is the need to restore food stamp benefits to the very poor refugees and legal immigrant families with children, especially those not receiving any SSI. There is a strong consensus on this point among the religious community, the antihunger community, and the immigrant community.”