MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Jim Mcgovern

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Well, first of all, I thank you for having me and thank you for all that you have down to call attention to the issue of hunger in America.

Look, I really do believe this is time for another White House conference on food nutrition and hunger. We have a hunger problem in this country. And, you know, one of the challenges that we face in solving it is that the jurisdiction to solve it falls under the multiple committees, multiple agencies.

So a White House conference could pull everybody together, anybody who`s relevant in solving this problem, bringing together in one room and let`s develop a road map with benchmarks to actually end hunger, not to manage it but to end it.

And I want included in that room those with lived experiences, those with lived experiences, those who are going through -- dealing with hunger.

So this is the moment. We have 45 million Americans who are hungry. We should be ashamed of that. We are the richest country in the history of the world, we can do better.

And so as the chairman of the Rules Committee we began a series of hearings that we`re going to work with all the other committees to bring them together to actually build a -- you know, the record that we can give to the White House and hopefully they will do this White House conference on food, nutrition and hunger.

I`ve talked to the Secretary of Agriculture, I`ve talked to the Secretary of Transportation, others in the White House. I think they`re supportive of the idea but I think now is the time to have that conference and let`s end hunger.

VELSHI: Jean, this whole idea of hearing from people in a conference like that who have a lived experience of hunger, you see people and talk to people every day who have that lived experience. And one of the things that has struck you in the last year is what happens when you encounter somebody who`s new to hunger or food insecurity.

The remarkable fear that goes through you, it`s paralyzing. It embarrasses you. You don`t know what the resources are that are available to you and sometimes your food bank is their first stop.

JEAN MCMURRAY, CEO, WORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK: Absolutely. And thank you, Ali, for having me on the show. It`s a pleasure to be here.

In fact, in April of 2020, the first full month of the pandemic the Worcester County Food Bank and our network of food pantries saw a 205 percent increase in the number of people going to a food pantry for the very first time compared to April 2019.

These are people who until recently had worked in nonessential service jobs, in retail and in the hospitality industry. People like Marie when I answered the phone I could detect the panic that was in Marie`s voice as she explained to me that she had three children, she was laid off. She had never had trouble feeding her family before. And she just didn`t know who to turn to or where to go. And she was trying to pay her bills but it was a real scramble while she waited for unemployment to be approved.

So the first thing we did was Marie and I e took a deep breath together and I told her she had come to the right place. I gave her assistance on how to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. I told her the school where she could go and get takeout meals for her children. And then I looked up the food pantry closest to where she lives and I discovered that the food pantry was closed.

So I invited Marie to come to the food bank because I didn`t want her to go without food for one moment or her family to go without food for one moment. The pantry would be open the next day but that was just too long for her to wait.

So when she came to the food bank and my co-workers and I brought out boxes of fresh food, frozen food and a range of nonperishable food items, Marie met us with a smile and some tears of relief.

But you know, Maria is just one of tens of thousands of people who had never needed to go to a food pantry before the pandemic gave them little choice. And when I met with her, you know, she reminded me of my neighbor.

And that`s when I thought, that`s who the food bank and our the food pantry partners help. We`re helping our neighbors whether they live next door, around the corner or across town. And they are kids who are in school with our kids and grand kids and they`re senior citizens who stand next to the market checkout line with us.

VELSHI: You know, some of Congressman McGovern`s colleagues in Congress have said that this expanded aid to people discourages work. I only have about 30 seconds left but have you -- what have you seen as a result of expanded aid to people who do not have an income right now?

MCGOVERN: Well, let me just say that those who are criticizing President Biden and thank God that we have a president who recognizes we have a hunger problem in this country. But the bottom line is if government is not there to help solve this problem then, you know, I don`t know what good government is.

And the bottom line is the -- one of the statistics I want to tell you is that, you know, people say to me all the time people should just go to work. Well, the majority of people who are able-bodied who can work who are on SNAP actually they do work. The majority of people --

VELSHI: They want to work.

MCGOVERN: Yes, they work. They work, they earn so little, they`re still on SNAP. So the bottom line is, you know, we need this White House conference to look at this issue holistically to be able address the challenges that Jean just outlined and we can do this. We can end hunger in our country.

VELSHI: Congressman, if you get that White House conference on hunger I will make sure that we cover it extensively on MSNBC. This is a crucial matter and it doesn`t need to exist.

MCGOVERN: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source