“Mr. Speaker, the fact that so many people in the United States of America are hungry is a national disgrace. We should be outraged. There should be outrage in this Chamber. There should be a sense of urgency that we need to solve this problem. Yet what we see is indifference and, in some cases, outright hostility toward those Americans who happen to be poor”, said Rep. McGovern.[/caption]
On December 11, 2013 Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts asked for permission to address the full House of Representatives for a few minutes about an issue relating to hunger in America. A situation he called a “national disgrace.”
“Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Republican leadership has decided we will adjourn for the holidays. Notwithstanding the fact that we haven’t done immigration reform, we haven’t passed a jobs bill, we haven’t extended unemployment insurance, they have all decided it is time to go home and enjoy the holidays. So on Friday, we will all leave and go back to our districts.”
“The one thing we will all have in common, Democrats and Republicans, is we will go back and we will enjoy the holidays, and we will partake in many celebrations. And the one thing that we will not have to worry about is whether or not we will have enough to eat. Our concern, quite frankly, will be overeating”, he said.
“But the fact is, for millions of our fellow citizens, close to 50 million Americans, they will have to worry about whether they will have enough to eat for them and their families. Fifty million people in this country, the richest country in the history of the world, are hungry; 17 million are kids. All kinds of people fall in that category. Sadly, close to 1 million of our veterans rely on food assistance programs because they don’t have enough to eat”, he continued.
“Mr. Speaker, the fact that so many people in the United States of America are hungry is a national disgrace. We should be outraged. There should be outrage in this Chamber. There should be a sense of urgency that we need to solve this problem. Yet what we see is indifference and, in some cases, outright hostility toward those Americans who happen to be poor”, said Rep. McGovern (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
Rep. McGovern serves as the second ranking Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the terms for debate and amendments on most legislation; and a member of the House Agriculture Committee. In those roles, McGovern has secured millions of dollars in federal grants and assistance for Massachusetts. McGovern is also co-chair of both the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the House Hunger Caucus. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition.
See related video: The growing face of Hunger in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJN0KXNAHbs
See video: Oregon Food Bank Hunger & Food Insecurity at epidemic proportions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6R8T6t9Wf8
See video: Hunger and Poverty in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yL8oJJAEDs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxfLD4GwgB8
See video: 1 in 4 American children go hungry , but we spend billions on war http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZvJ1ciIG4
See video: Female war vet sleeps in cars, goes hungry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDEDuAl90Fg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4bq86vYJDA