The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act
September 14, 2013
I thank the gentlelady.
Mr. Speaker, it’s really hard to know what to say anymore. It’s impossible for us to rationalize what has become completely irrational, but I’m just going to say what it is.
From the other side, this bill is mean. It’s unconscionable. And it’s really just plain wrong. The rational person would ask, don’t they know that nearly 4 million people would have benefits cut and would lose their benefits entirely? A rational person would ask, don’t they know that millions of people, beneficiaries, already work, that they go to school, and that they’re looking for work?
I know what it’s like to struggle to feed a child, to wonder whether there’s food tomorrow or the next week. Don’t they know that this is what families across America are struggling with right now? I don’t know.
I’ll tell you what, I see the plan – shut down government, starve children, the elderly, the disabled, demonize the poor, blame them for everything. But I’m going to just tell you, when I go to sleep at night, I sleep well. After you cast this vote, after Republicans cast this vote today, they won’t sleep well.
