Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Freedom From Want
National Hunger Awareness DayAt this time of year, I always recall that famous Norman Rockwell painting, "Freedom from Want," which portrays a grandmother placing an enormous roast turkey on a dinner table surrounded by a happy extended family. America truly is a nation of amazing blessings and abundance. And the holiday season is always a wonderful time at which to reflect on and give thanks for our prosperity and freedom.
Today is National Hunger Awareness Day, and this year's theme is "The Face of Hunger Will Surprise You." And it should. It should surprise us that one in eight Americans lives in poverty, including nearly one in five children. It should surprise us that, in this land of agricultural abundance, some 25 million people rely on food stamps — 50 percent of them children.
The farm bill is about more than farm programs. It is also the most important piece of domestic food assistance legislation for low-income families. Whether or not millions of American families will have enough food on the table depends largely upon what Congress does this year in the farm bill.
That's why, along with Senator Lugar, I recently introduced the Food Stamp Fairness and Benefit Restoration Act. This bill provides an outline for needed improvements to the Food Stamp Program that should be included in the farm bill.
We need this legislation because too many Americans are falling behind. Over the past five years, the number of Americans living in poverty has risen by five million. Since 1992, the share of poor children with a parent working full-time, year-round has grown by 60 percent. Low-income families are working to build a better life for themselves and their children. We need to give them a helping hand.
My legislation would halt the loss in food stamp purchasing power that has been occurring since the mid-1990s, when inflation adjustment in a key program area was frozen. If nothing else, Congress must take steps to prevent the lives of low-income households from growing even more precarious.
The bill would account for the high cost of child-care in calculating benefits for working families. This will help low-income workers provide more food for their children as they struggle with the tremendous cost of child care, which right now averages almost $650 per month.
We should also change the aspects of the Food Stamp Program that discourage low-income families from saving for their future. Currently a family cannot receive food assistance if it has liquid resources of more than $2,000, an amount that has remained virtually unchanged for about 30 years. If this amount had been adjusted for inflation it would be around $6,000 today. This badly outdated asset limit essentially forces low-income families, in times of real need, to spend down their limited savings and hit rock bottom just so that they can receive meager food assistance benefits of $1 per meal.
This legislation attempts to address the serious challenges confronting low-income Americans: stagnant wages, increased costs for housing, energy, child care, and other essentials. We took steps in the last farm bill, but only got part way. With the new farm bill, we have an opportunity to make a major and lasting difference in the nutrition of America's poorest citizens.
