Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the draconian Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act.

Rather than consider a bipartisan Farm Bill that would help hungry Americans and provide certainty for farmers and ranchers over the next five years, the House has instead decided to bring to the floor a partisan measure that would hurt those most in need and has no chance of passage in the United States Senate.

This legislation is wrong on many levels. First, the nutrition provisions were never intended to be considered separately from the other titles of the Farm Bill, as has been the bipartisan tradition for the past several decades.

As the distinguished former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said, ``stripping the nutrition title from the [Farm Bill] ..... has severed the vital tie that helps connect our food system with those who struggle with hunger in our own backyard.''

This bill, in fact, is all pain and no gain.

It is estimated that the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act will cause between four to six million low-income individuals to lose their SNAP benefits entirely. As many as 210,000 children potentially could lose their school meals and 850,000 households could see their benefits slashed by an average of $90 per month.

In Georgia's Second Congressional District. which I represent and where 26 out of the 29 counties are sparsely populated and rural, nearly a quarter of the households receive SNAP benefits. Many of them could be in jeopardy of reduced benefits or a loss of benefits altogether if these cuts are enacted.

I know that supporters of this legislation are claiming that the reductions in SNAP benefits are intended to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. They ignore the fact that the SNAP program actually has one of the lowest error and overpayment rates of any large federal program.

Last year, the SNAP overpayment rate was 2.77%, and that includes overpayments due to errors and due to fraud. By contrast, the rate of error and fraud in the federal income tax system is about 15%.

Supporters of the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act also claim that the legislation particularly the tough work requirements--will move people off of SNAP benefits and into full-time employment, leading to self-sufficiency. In fact, the bill immediately eliminates the ability of states to waive SNAP work requirements in areas of high employment or where no jobs are available.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this provision would end SNAP benefits to 1.7 million individuals whom live in high unemployment areas, even if they want to work and are looking for employment, but either cannot find a job or a place in a training program.

Mr. Speaker, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act would devastate the safety net and lead to millions of hungry Americans throughout the nation.

I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill.

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