Congressman McGovern's Floor Speech, U.S. House of Representatives

TAKING THE FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE
May 15, 2007

   Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this week, I am joined by three of my esteemed colleagues, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson from Missouri, Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from Illinois, in taking the Food Stamp Challenge.

   The Food Stamp Challenge is an initiative begun by nonprofit and religious community groups. Public officials agree to live on a food stamp budget for 1 week in order to raise awareness of the food stamp program and the inadequacy of the current benefit. Under the Food Stamp Challenge, we will only be allowed to eat food totaling $21 for the week, $3 a day, or $1 per meal, which is the national average food stamp benefit. In other words, no lattes at Starbucks, no organic chicken at home and no wine or shrimp at receptions this week.

   Yesterday, Congresswoman Emerson and I went grocery shopping at the Capitol Hill Safeway for the week. However, she was a more efficient shopper than I was. While she made it through the checkout line in 30 minutes, it took me almost an hour and a half to find food that fit my budget, and that was even with the much-appreciated assistance of Ms. Toinette Wilson, a D.C. food stamp recipient, who assisted my wife Lisa and me with our shopping.

   Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski successfully took the challenge with his wife a few weeks ago, and Utah Governor John Huntsman, Jr., is currently living on a food stamp budget with his household of eight. In New York City, where over 1 million people depend on food stamps each month, New York City Councilman Eric Gioia is participating in the Food Stamp Challenge.

   This diverse group of public leaders who all feel compelled to take on this challenge demonstrates the importance of the food stamp program for all Americans: from California to Massachusetts, Michigan to Texas, Republican and Democrat, urban and rural, the food stamp program represents the moral values of America: compassion, thoughtfulness and community spirit.

   Mr. Speaker, I am taking this Food Stamp Challenge as a way of saying that as Americans, we need to do more to eliminate hunger and poverty in this country. One in nine U.S. households, nearly 36 million Americans, does not consistently have enough food to feed themselves or their families according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There is no excuse for this.

   In the wealthiest country on earth, it is not about finding the resources. It is about mustering the political will.

   Established in 1939, the food stamp program helps families in need buy food so that they do not have to make difficult choices, such as choosing between paying a utility bill, addressing health care needs or buying food. It truly is the safety net for America's hungry.

   Despite what some critics like to say, the food stamp program is not a government handout, but it is a true safety net program that provides access to food for people who cannot afford to choose between rent, medicine, child care and transportation. Gone are the days of the inefficient program ravaged by fraud, waste and abuse. In fact, National Journal recently named the food stamp program as one of the government's top successes. And the GAO has repeatedly reported on the successes of this important program.

   Mr. Speaker, let me take a moment to share with you who benefits from the food stamp program. According to USDA, over 26 million people benefited from the food stamp program last year, including 452,000 individuals from my State of Massachusetts. Over 80 percent of food stamp benefits go to families with children. One in five food stamp households has an elderly family member, and one in four has a disabled member. Increasingly, working families must rely on food stamps to supplement their wages in low-paying jobs.

   Some may question the motives of elected officials taking this 1-week challenge. These critics, Mr. Speaker, are missing the point. It's time for a much greater public debate to take place around this issue. It is time to end hunger in America, and we can do so starting by focusing on the food stamp program.

   The food stamp program is our government's first line of defense against hunger and malnutrition and it should be better equipped to accomplish that task. Merely 60 percent of those who are eligible to receive food stamps currently do, and in Massachusetts that participation rate is only 49 percent. The participation rate is particularly low for immigrants and the elderly.

   Last week, Congresswoman Emerson and I introduced H.R. 2129, the Feeding America's Families Act, which would greatly improve the food stamp program as well as other Federal hunger and nutrition programs scheduled for reauthorization in the farm bill. We encourage each of our colleagues to consider cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.

   Mr. Speaker, although some judge the health of our Nation by how the wealthiest are faring, others, including myself, believe we must measure the morality and prosperity of our society by the status and mobility of those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Through this challenge, I hope my constituents, the American people and my colleagues in Washington, D.C., will learn more about the vital role the food stamp program plays in the lives of low-income people.

Comments

[Vicki Showalter]

You are starting out well, but still you have to raise the income limits. There are so many people that are turned down, that should be able to receive these food stamps. That is one of the major problems, the welfare dept. turning people down because of a few dollars over the limit. This country should be ashamed of itself, and all of the leaders also. The people at all the social services offices treat the people that come there for help like criminals. When you come in there hungry, and depressed to be turned down, and treated very, very badly is a rotten thing to have to go through.I am truly ashamed of my country.

[Sharon Dupree]

I am very proud and thankful for the Massachusetts members of Congress, especially Rep. McGovern, who is my legislator. MA politicians have shown that it's possible to mainain a balance between business and citizens.
I have not ageed with every vote, naturally so, but I know that they are not trying to advance in their personal lives at the expense of citizens. If more legislators followed their lead, this country wouldn't be in the mess it's in.
It's up to the citizens in a democracy to protect the democracy and Americans are doing a sorry job at this. It's not enough to look the other way when wrongdoing occurs and then complain when things get out of hand. Citizens have to be pro-active and get rid of those legislaors who are not upholding their oaths and praise those who do their jobs in an ethical and professional manner.

[Nanette Rayman Rivera]

The food stamp program is USELESS if the workers lie constantly and DON'T do their jobs properly. I was cut off with no warning. Have tried to get them back, have no job, been lied to over and over by Mr. Worrell and Ms. Grubbs at the EAST END CENTER 212-860-6740 - 2322 3rd Avenue - 3rd floor - Food Stamp Office - NY, NY 10035 tells me the REAL reason I still, after 30 days, don't have my food stamps. Because I now have the REAL reason, it means she and MR. WORRELL, 212-860-5281 - that weasel, were LYING all this time. It means that MR. WORRELL lied right to my husband's face on the day we applied. THIS IS ILLEGAL and I WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!

They knew when we applied on December 20 that my husband had an open case for $24 for schizophrenics. Yet they said nothing and let us wait until January 16th to tell us. We called and called and they kept saying we'd get them. LIARS!!!

Another thing, the income limits are bad. If a person earns, say, $1300 and is single, they don't qualify. But what if they have $350 in student loans to pay a month? Choose between having those loans default and balloon into three times their size, or earn less money, not have money for loan payments, but get food stamps?

The program is not individualized enough. And the food allowance is stingy, especially in New York City.

Our government shoudl be ashamed. I hate our government after being in the system.

[Nanette Rayman Rivera]

The food stamp program is USELESS if the workers lie constantly and DON'T do their jobs properly. I was cut off with no warning. Have tried to get them back, have no job, been lied to over and over by Mr. Worrell and Ms. Grubbs at the EAST END CENTER 212-860-6740 - 2322 3rd Avenue - 3rd floor - Food Stamp Office - NY, NY 10035 tells me the REAL reason I still, after 30 days, don't have my food stamps. Because I now have the REAL reason, it means she and MR. WORRELL, 212-860-5281 - that weasel, were LYING all this time. It means that MR. WORRELL lied right to my husband's face on the day we applied. THIS IS ILLEGAL and I WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!

They knew when we applied on December 20 that my husband had an open case for $24 for schizophrenics. Yet they said nothing and let us wait until January 16th to tell us. We called and called and they kept saying we'd get them. LIARS!!!

Another thing, the income limits are bad. If a person earns, say, $1300 and is single, they don't qualify. But what if they have $350 in student loans to pay a month? Choose between having those loans default and balloon into three times their size, or earn less money, not have money for loan payments, but get food stamps?

The program is not individualized enough. And the food allowance is stingy, especially in New York City.

Our government shoudl be ashamed. I hate our government after being in the system.