RECENT VOTES

Food Assistance

On September 19, 2013, the House considered H.R. 3102: Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act. This legislation funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which has historically been included in the Farm Bill. You may recall, however, that the House reauthorized the Farm Bill over the summer without including the SNAP program. At the time, many Republicans objected to the Farm Bill because, although it cut nutrition assistance by more than $20 billion, they didn’t think those cuts were deep enough. So SNAP funding was removed from the Farm Bill with the promise of returning to the issue in the fall.

Well, Republican leadership did fulfill their commitment to revisit SNAP with H.R. 3102. This time, they slashed the program by nearly $40 billion, double the cuts originally proposed over the summer. If H.R. 3102 becomes law, almost 4 million people will lose food assistance. Almost half of those currently receiving this help are children. Moreover, this legislation also imposes some troubling restrictions. Unemployed adults would potentially lose access to SNAP after three months if they cannot find at least a part-time job. Unemployment remains a persistent problem in this country and it often takes people many months to find work. The federal government should not be taking help away from some of the people who need it the most. The Administration has already promised to veto H.R. 3102. I voted NO. H.R. 3102 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

• H.R. 3102 on Congress.gov