WASHINGTON – Late Thursday afternoon, the U.S. House passed the so-called Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act by a 217-210 margin largely along party lines. If signed into law, the bill would reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.
Alabama’s congressional delegation reflected that vote, with the state’s lone Democrat, Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, being the only dissenting vote.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, commended the vote in a statement following the bill’s passage.
“I’ve said it so many times, but it still rings true – Washington has a serious spending problem,” Rogers said. “Today’s legislation will reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program, and save taxpayers almost $40 billion over the next decade. SNAP does play an essential role in helping those in need, but the waste and abuse of this program originally designed to help the very poor has ballooned out-of-control.”
“Spending on the SNAP program has over doubled since 2007 and these reforms should help encourage able-bodied folks to get back to work,” Rogers continued. “I believe by re-enforcing the work provisions of the 1996 Welfare Reform law which were relaxed in the President’s Stimulus bill we can move people from food stamps to jobs. This bill will help rein in this spending and allow food stamps to be used in the way they were intended to be used: for those who need it most. We must get our country’s fiscal house in order and this legislation is a good first step.”
The legislation received loud criticism from House Democrats and liberal groups, and also drew the attention of the Obama White House, which threatened to veto the bill.
Sewell called the legislation that reportedly cuts $40 billion from the program, cuts that would revert government expenditures back to 2008 levels, “nothing short of Draconian.”
“Today, I voted against H.R. 3102 because rather than addressing the systematic problems that contribute to poverty and food insecurity, this legislation further threatens the well-being of those who rely upon nutrition assistance to feed themselves and their families,” Sewell said in a statement. “To cut $40 Billion from SNAP is nothing short of draconian.”
Sewell said the bill would have “devastating consequences” on the large number of families in her district that receive food stamp benefits.
“I refuse to support legislation that neglects vulnerable families in my district and across Alabama,” she continued. “This bill will have devastating consequences for the more than 913,000 families in Alabama who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Presently, SNAP provides essential support to over 160,000 individuals in the 7th Congressional District alone. The majority of the faces of those on SNAP in my district are children under 18 and senior citizens. Rather than balancing the budget on the backs of society’s most vulnerable, we should be providing and strengthening programs that enable every American to better provide for themselves and their families.”
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