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| Wilson Wants Federal Food Program to Continue |
February 14, 2006 |
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Low-Income Seniors Rely on Federal Ag Program for Food
Albuquerque, NM - Congresswoman Heather Wilson wants the feds to continue a successful food program for low-income New Mexicans, including seniors, women, and children. Wilson expressed her concerns this week in a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Michael Johanns. The letter Wilson sent was signed by 20 other members of Congress from both parties.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) has been assisting over 500,000 low-income elderly, mothers, and children each month for the last 37 years by providing boxes of food to supplement their diets.
The full text of Wilson’s letter is below:
Dear Secretary Johanns:
As the administration continues to distribute federal funds and resources for Fiscal Year 2006, we would like to express our strong support for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). We encourage the department to adhere to language in the FY2006 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Conference Report to "make every effort to maintain the fiscal year 2005 caseload by making full use of CSFP inventory and carryover from preceding years, and to access all available resources from bonus commodity holding and CCC stocks."
The CSFP is a valuable program that serves over 512,000 elderly and low-income women and children each month. We feel it is crucial that the current caseload be maintained in 2006 and for this reason request that you inform us of the actions your department is taking to ensure that no program participants are turned away.
We appreciate the Department`s commitment to end hunger and malnutrition in our elderly populations and low-income families, and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Heather Wilson
Member of Congress
CC: Eric M. Bost, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
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