Opening Statement by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson
Past, Present and Future of SNAP: Opportunities for Improving Access to Food

--As Prepared for Delivery--

“Thank you Mr. Chairman, it’s nice to be back. Welcome, everyone, to the Agriculture Committee.

“Today we are continuing the Committee’s review of SNAP by looking at what food providers are doing to improve access to food. There are a lot of different approaches and I am looking forward to hearing testimony from our witnesses.

“This is our 18th SNAP review hearing and, I believe, this is the final hearing this year. We’ve covered a lot of issues but the overwhelming theme of the testimony has shown us that while there are some areas for improvement, SNAP works. We’ve also heard testimony opposing efforts to block grant SNAP and on the importance of keeping SNAP within the farm bill. I hope we can keep these themes in mind as we start work on the farm bill next year.

“Again, I thank the Chair for holding today’s hearing and look forward to hearing from our witnesses.”
 

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