Press Releases

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement after voting against the split Farm Bill that excludes Nutrition Assistance provisions from the Farm Bill:  

“Yesterday, I voted against passage of the Republicans version of the Farm Bill that stripped out the entire Nutrition Assistance program that is traditionally provided for in the Farm Bill including the essential Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). The SNAP program is essential for so many families and children across my district and this nation. This version of the Farm Bill is a shameful neglect of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens.

 Yesterday morning, I offered a motion to adjourn in opposition to this partisan measure. I refuse to support legislation that abandons the 39,386 households in my district that rely upon the SNAP program to eat and feed their families! Of these almost 40,000 households, 59.4 percent have children under the age of 18 and 22.2 percent have one or more people 60 years or older. It would have been negligent for me to vote for this legislation having known the economic difficulty so many of my constituents go through to provide for their families.

 While I understand that our nation faces a serious budget deficit, we simply cannot balance our budget on the backs of families who depend on these government assistance programs to put food on their table and make ends meet.

The Farm Bill has for 80 years dually provided assistance for both our food producers and our food consumers. Now is absolutely NOT the time to strip Nutrition Assistance from the Farm Bill.  I am willing and ready to work with my colleagues to draft a Farm Bill that strikes a balance between what is needed to protect the farmers in my district as well as those in Alabama who depend upon Nutrition Assistance.”

 

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