Harkin: Farm Bill Should Not Further Erode Critical Food Assistance

Statement

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) issued the following statement as millions of Americans, including over 400,000 in Iowa, are seeing their food assistance benefits reduced today. The reduction comes as Congress hammers out the difference between the Senate and House-passed farm bills and major funding differences over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Harkin is a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and is working to negotiate a new farm bill.

"Providing modest food assistance for needy families in Iowa and around the country is one of the best economic drivers. Benefits go out quickly and are used almost immediately to purchase food -- a basic necessity. I can think of few other programs that are so critical when the economy is still recovering. The drop in SNAP benefits that occurred today is not only bad for families, it is bad for a weak economy," said Harkin.

"Given that struggling families are already experiencing a significant drop in SNAP benefits, Congress should be very hesitant about further cuts to the SNAP Program. For more than 40 years, farm bills have combined help for farm families and rural communities with assistance for low-income families. This careful balance is preserved in the Senate bill, which continues critical food, agriculture, energy and rural programs, while reducing federal spending," he continued. "But the same extreme ideologically-driven members of the House who forced the government shutdown are demanding radical cuts to the federal food assistance program that benefit the most vulnerable among us -- children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-wage workers.

"A farm bill is well within the reach of Congress if we can set aside ideology and come together in a bipartisan spirit. We can pass a farm bill that makes appropriate adjustments and holds the line at the Senate level of nutrition cuts. Alternatively, if some continue to demand radical, harsh cuts to SNAP, that is a choice that will hurt struggling Americans, and it will deny producers and rural America the long-term farm bill they need and deserve. It would be, in essence, a choice not to have a farm bill."

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