Farm Bill and Nutrition

Floor Speech

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Mr. DesJARLAIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Thompson. We really do appreciate his leadership on this issue and his passion. He spent so much time and effort to get this right, and it is really rare in this country where you can get so many people to come together--especially in these times--and agree on one thing.

But when it comes to work-capable people between age 18 and 59 contributing to the workforce, about 80 percent of Americans agree on this. This is across the aisle. This is Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. It is hard to get people to agree on anything, but this is just such a commonsense, humane thing to do.

I don't fully understand who the 2 in 10 are who would disagree with this. Maybe they are people who are not working who are able-bodied. But at any rate, this is something that is designed to help lift people from poverty, break the cycle of debt, and get people to work and feel good about themselves.

I would urge everyone listening to call their Representatives and their Senators and urge them to support this farm bill because it is well thought out. The time is right. The jobless claims are down in this country, yet there are people all over our districts who are clamoring to us about the lack of skilled workers.

All throughout Tennessee's Fourth District, there are people asking me: How do we get people to come and work? And here is a solution that we have people who can go out and get good-paying jobs, break the cycle. They are able to work. They are capable of working, but for some reason just haven't reentered the workforce. And, frankly, our government has made it too easy for people not to work. They have made it too comfortable. We have been bad parents.

It is time to do the right thing. We all need to contribute to this country. We have record debts, and getting people back to work is the answer.

But when you hear folks who are opposed to work requirements for people who are able-bodied, I just would ask you to ask them why. It does not help their self-esteem. It does not help their country. It does not help their families. And what we are offering here is an opportunity to work 20 hours a week. If you are still in need of assistance, you will get it. If you don't have the proper training, this will allow you to get training. We are making this mandatory.

So either you are going to become a part of the workforce, you are going to be trained to become part of the workforce, or you are simply going to choose not to work; and, in that case, you might lose your food stamps benefits. But that is the whole point of this, is to help people make the right decision, make good choices; and, again, 80 percent of the country agrees with this across the aisle. So there should be no real controversy on this. There should be no reason that people don't want to support this bill.

It is the right thing to do. It is the right time. There are jobs available. It is just simply a matter of people breaking that cycle, getting out, contributing, and feeling good about themselves again. I really can't understand why we have opposition to this great piece of work that was put together. It is great that it is coming in the form of the farm bill.

I stand in strong support of this and am grateful for the gentleman's work and the work of so many on the committee, and the Members, and the staff to help get people in the right place, back to work, and still protecting and preserving the safety-net program that is vital for so many people.

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