U.S. Rep. Meeks: While the Farm Bill Contains Many Sensible and Reasonable Compromises, I Cannot Support any Legislation that Turns its Back on the Most Vulnerable

U.S. Rep. Meeks: While the Farm Bill Contains Many Sensible and Reasonable Compromises, I Cannot Support any Legislation that Turns its Back on the Most Vulnerable

Excerpt: I will continue to encourage my colleagues to re-examine the detrimental effect this farm bill has on communities across the country, bring votes to raise the minimum wage, and extend and reform unemployment benefits.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05) released the following statement today after the House passed H.R. 2642, the farm bill conference report:

“The farm bill is an extremely important bill that authorizes the government to spend $956 billion and cuts the budget deficit by $16.6 billion over the next decade. While I am thankful to my colleagues for their bipartisan approach to reaching a compromise that addresses controlling the rising cost of dairy products, I cannot ignore the impact this legislation has on low income families, especially women and children.

“The farm bill cuts $8.6 billion in spending over the next decade on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also-known-as Food Stamps. Over 850,000 households struggling to make ends meet, including the working poor will be cut from the SNAP benefits. Of these households, 300,000 reside in New York State. Considering that SNAP benefits average less than $1.40 per person, per meal, this bill cuts benefits by $90 per month for some households. The SNAP program was already operating reduced levels imposed by the budget sequester. The farm bill cuts come in addition to the sequester cuts and don’t include the $11 billion cut from the SNAP program when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ended last November.

“While the farm bill contains many sensible and reasonable compromises, I cannot support any legislation that turns its back on the most vulnerable women and children, families trying to get back on their feet, and the elderly and disabled.

“I will continue to encourage my colleagues to re-examine the detrimental effect this farm bill has on communities across the country, bring votes to raise the minimum wage, and extend and reform unemployment benefits.” [End]