TUCSON, AZ— Today, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva sent a letter to the House Agriculture Committee to express his opposition to proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would unfairly stigmatize SNAP recipients and increase food insecurity in communities across the country. The letter read in part:

“I am alarmed at the number of changes put forth in an attempt to force people out of SNAP and at the cruelty of pushing more vulnerable Americans into the grasps of poverty. This partisan proposal will cut benefits for millions of Americans by imposing duplicative work requirements, decimating the school lunch program and adding bureaucracy into the eligibility processes. The mere thought of proposing that states will now have to create new job training and employment programs, which already exist, is bad policy and runs counter to the evidence-based approach in policy making.”          

“SNAP has demonstrable success in improving the health and wellbeing of children, adults, and seniors. It has lifted millions of Americans out of poverty and continues to be one of America’s most important anti-hunger/anti-poverty programs. I urge you to work in a bipartisan manner to remedy this bill prior to floor consideration. The historic balance of past farm legislation created overwhelming support in Congress. This needless marginalizing of poor people and increasing hunger destroys this balance of interests and jeopardizes the Farm Bill.”

Read the full letter here.

###

Stay in touch with Rep. Grijalva:

Newsletter – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Website