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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1206-E1207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS
______
speech of
HON. MARCIA L. FUDGE
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Ms. FUDGE. Madam Speaker, over 40 states and territories use Broad-
Based Categorical Eligibility or Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility
(or BBCE) to streamline the administration of SNAP and provide critical
assistance to households receiving benefits and services through the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.
BBCE is proven to help millions of working poor families move toward
financial security, by easing the benefits cliff as their earnings
increase.
On July 24, 2019, USDA published a proposed rule to restrict the use
of BBCE and eliminate SNAP benefits for an estimated 3.1 million
Americans. This includes children, working families, military veterans,
disabled individuals, and seniors.
Most shameful is the proposals impact on hungry school-age children.
By USDA's own estimates, the new policy would take away direct access
to free school meals for at least 500,000 schoolchildren.
Nearly half a million children would be left to go hungry during the
school day, shifting the burden to strapped school districts.
In my state of Ohio, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
over 61,000 SNAP households would lose their benefits. USDA reports
that in 2017, the prevalence of food insecurity among Ohioans was
higher than the national average.
13.7 percent of Ohioans were food insecure in 2017, compared to 12.3
percent nationally.
Even USDA admits the proposed changes to SNAP will make food
insecurity worse and make it harder for millions of Americans to get
by.
Most notably, it would remove the current flexibility for states and
territories to use BBCE to tailor SNAP to best meet the food needs of
their own populations.
Republicans love to talk about states' rights when it suits them, but
when it comes to the flexibility of states to meet the needs of their
food-insecure populations, they want something very different.
As the economy continues to leave working families and our most
vulnerable behind, programs like SNAP are needed more than ever.
Congress already debated these issues.
We came together and rejected this policy in both the 2014 and 2018
farm bills with a record bipartisan vote.
This proposed rule is shameful and cruel and is contrary to the will
of Congress.
This unilateral action by the Administration only complicates
legitimate bipartisan efforts to make programs like SNAP more effective
and efficient for the millions of people who rely on it to put food on
the table.
We should be working together to strengthen the safety net, not
weaken it.
I urge USDA to rescind this harmful proposed rule immediately and
finally make good on its promise to the American people to ``Do Right
and Feed Everyone''.
[[Page E1207]]
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