Press Releases

CBC Chairman Statement on House Republican Passage of the Farm Bill

Washington, June 22, 2018

Today, the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-02), released the following statement on House Republicans’ passage of the Farm Bill, which would cut $23 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and result in as many as 40,000 households losing nutrition assistance. The bill also cuts 265,000 children from the free school lunch program. 

“Although the Republican Party is supposed to be the party of family values, every day they make it clear that they don’t care about children and families. We’ve seen this for the past few months at the border where the Trump Administration has separated thousands of immigrant children from their parents, and we saw this yesterday with the passage of the Farm Bill. 

“If the Farm Bill that House Republicans passed yesterday is signed into law, thousands of poor children and families will go hungry, including 265,000 children who receive free school lunch. This is not who we are as a country. For far too many children who receive free school lunch, sometimes what they eat at school is the only meal they get to eat all day. 

“If Republicans hadn’t given the richest of the rich a $2 trillion dollar tax cut, then they wouldn’t need to cut nutrition assistance and other anti-poverty programs. The CBC will continue to stand up and speak out against this bill, which, until this Congress, has always been a bipartisan effort. 

“Hopefully, the Senate will restore some humanity to this inhumane bill so poor children and families don’t have to go hungry.”  

Farm Bill Cuts         

   Cuts $23 billion from SNAP
  Robs 400,000 households of nutrition assistance.
  Deprives 265,000 students of free school meals.

 Forces low-wage workers with unpredictable work schedules to provide documentation verifying they’ve worked 20 hours per week or participated in unproven job training programs.