On the recordSeptember 19, 2013
This Republican ``let them starve'' bill would undermine what Professors Miguel Ferguson, Stacey Borasky, and Scott Harding recently described in an article as a ``modern antipoverty marvel.'' SNAP, they report, ``improves access to healthy meals for nearly one in three children. It also reduces chronic illness and hospitalizations and significantly reduces poverty and the severity of poverty.'' It ``keeps kids healthier, happier, and better prepared to do their best in school.'' And SNAP ``is one of the most efficient government programs, with a rigorous application process, high rates of payment accuracy, and low rates of misuse (about a 1 cent on the dollar).'' The main limitation is not that it helps feed too many people or costs too much but that almost 30 percent of those eligible get nothing. We cannot snap our fingers and snap away poverty, but this bill will snap a vital lifeline. It must be rejected.





