Press Releases

Today, the Trump Administration announced a proposed rule from the Department of Agriculture that would kick 3 million Americans off of the SNAP food benefit program. This latest attack on hungry Americans comes on the heels of the Administration attempting to change the federal poverty line in an effort to rob African American communities of basic assistance, access to education and quality health care. In response, Congressional Black Caucus members issued the following statement:

“We know that there are millions of hard-working families who work two and three jobs and still struggle to put food on the table. But instead of helping those families in a time of need, this Administration is laser focused on pulling the rug out from underneath them. Make no mistake, today’s announcement is simply another example of this Administration’s continuous assault on the African American community. President Trump is hard at working trying to convince the American people that the economy is working everyone – but it isn’t. Our communities deserve a fighting chance to achieve the American dream and it’s time for the President to deliver,” said Congresswoman Bass, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

“The Administration’s ill-conceived proposal will kick millions of people off SNAP—seniors, children, working families and the disabled.  It is yet another attack on hungry Americans that ignores the clearly-stated will of Congress. We debated similar proposals in the bipartisan-led 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills.  They were rejected due to the overwhelming number of states that rely on the flexibility of categorical eligibility to provide critical assistance to people in need.   As I’ve said before, Republicans love talking about states’ rights and the importance of state flexibility, but when it comes to putting that rhetoric into practice for SNAP, they take the opposite position.  The ugly truth no one in this Administration wants to admit is this: the economy isn’t working for our most vulnerable. They still need a hand up, not a heartless, mean-spirited policy,” said Congresswoman Fudge, Chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations

“Despite clear evidence that nutrition is critical to a child’s health and development, the administration’s proposed rule would jeopardize access to free school meals for more than 500,000 low-income children. This is a counterproductive proposal that will make low-income students pay for the irresponsible Republican tax cut, which overwhelmingly benefited corporations and the wealthy while adding more than $1.7 trillion to the national debt. The proposed rule is a telling statement about the administration’s priorities,” said Congressman Bobby Scott, Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee