On September 19, 2013 Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for one minute regarding the Republican proposal to drastically cut food stamp assistance for the poor in America.
“Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to put food on the table. But H.R. 3102, which we’ll consider later today, will let families in our districts go hungry. The cuts contained in the bill could leave behind about 120,000 Oregonians who are still struggling to recover from the recession. That’s a huge number and will reverberate throughout our communities. Some might say that charitable institutions can make up the difference, but that’s just not so. They’re already struggling to meet demands. Without SNAP, millions of Americans will go hungry, plain and simple.”
“We shouldn’t be trying to balance the budget on the backs of hungry families. The bill that will be up today outright abandons them. If we’re really concerned about the cost of SNAP, we should focus on addressing the root causes of hunger. Let’s cut poverty, not nutrition assistance”, said Rep. Bonamici (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
Rep. Bonamici serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.