Blake Moore: “Despite what we have heard from the author of this program, there is no work in this bill. This amendment would more…”

“Despite what we have heard from the author of this program, there is no work in this bill. This amendment would more appropriately be called ``The State Bonuses for Terminating SNAP Benefits for People Who Want to Work but Can't Find a Job Because They're in a Recession,'' and it ends benefits for children, disabled people, yes, and even for disabled veterans. I think the most egregious thing about this amendment is that there is no funding for worker training programs in this bill at all even though we are ordering people to do it, and there is a perverse incentive for States to end SNAP benefits for people because, suddenly, food stamps, or SNAP benefits, become fungible. We just rejected an amendment in our last series of votes that would have allowed people to get toothpaste and toothbrushes with SNAP benefits; but what this amendment does is allow the States to pocket these sanctions and use them for whatever they want to--to balance the budget with it or to convert SNAP benefits into tax breaks for corporations or for wealthy people. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.”