South Bend Tribune: Legislative Recap
by Kevin Allen
Here’s a look at what Michiana’s members of Congress did during the past week.
Monday
• The Michiana Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America selected U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Jimtown, to receive the 2016 Colonel Jack Stephens Citizenship Award in recognition of her service to active duty, reserve and veteran service members in the community.
Walorski, the daughter of an Air Force veteran, sits on the Armed Services Committee, the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Agriculture Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
She has devoted a significant amount of her time in Congress to issues such as providing veterans with better access to services and benefits, according to the association. She has co-sponsored legislation to improve cost-of-living adjustments for Veterans Affairs beneficiaries and require any public institution accepting GI Bill education benefits to offer in-state tuition rates to all veterans. She also has pressed the VA to reduce its service backlog.
Tuesday
• U.S. Rep Jackie Walorski R-Jimtown visited Plymouth to see nutrition programs up close and meet with those on the front lines of the fight against hunger.
At the Washington Discovery Academy, which is part of Plymouth Community School Corp. and where 65 percent of students receive free or reduced-price breakfast, Walorski learned about the school’s garden, toured classrooms and joined students for breakfast in the cafeteria. After the school tour, Walorski visited the Marshall County Neighborhood Center, a community organization whose food pantry serves more than 400 families each month.
“I’ve seen hunger up close, both overseas and here in Indiana’s 2nd District, and I am committed to fixing the way we fight poverty,” Walorski said. “As our work continues in Congress, it is critically important that I hear from those who know best what works and what doesn’t.”
Walorski has been working in Congress to study federal anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs. As chair of the House Agriculture Nutrition Subcommittee, she has held more than a dozen hearings on the past, present and future of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. In June, she joined House Speaker Paul Ryan and several colleagues to unveil “A Better Way to Fight Poverty” — a set of policy ideas for improving the effectiveness of federal anti-poverty programs.
Read the full story here.
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