Senate Farm Bill Slashes $4.1 Billion in Food Stamps for Veterans, Seniors, and Food Insecure Families Over Next Decade — Half of Food Stamp Beneficiaries are Children
Cuts to SNAP Program Would Cut $90/Month for 190,000 NYC Families Facing Constant Struggle Against Hunger, Take Away 70 Million Meals Per Year
Gillibrand Leads One-Third of Senate in Calling to Protect Critical Food Assistance for Community’s Most Vulnerable
(Washington, D.C. – May 14, 2013) U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement today after voting against the Farm Bill that passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee with $4.1 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“Just as important as the health of our agriculture industry, is the health and nutrition of our children and families. I am deeply concerned with the drastic cuts this bill makes to SNAP that will literally take food away from hungry children, while protecting corporate welfare for insurance companies based in Bermuda, Australia and Switzerland who don’t need it. These are the wrong priorities.
“The Americans who rely on SNAP are not nameless, faceless people looking for a handout. They are children, hard-working adults, struggling seniors, veterans, active duty troops and the families that stand by them. That’s who suffers in this callous political fight.
“Losing ninety dollars a month in food assistance may not sound like a lot to some people. But if you’re a parent who’s trying to protect your children and feed them good, wholesome, nutritious food, or a senior on a fixed income, it means everything in the world.
“As a mother and a lawmaker, watching a child go hungry is something I just will not stand for. Families who are living in poverty – hungry children, seniors, troops and veterans who are just trying to figure out how to keep the lights on and put food on the table — they did not spend this nation into debt and we should not be trying to balance the budget on their backs. They deserve better.”