Washington, D.C. – May 10, 2012 – Today’s vote by the House of Representatives slashes spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and many other vital low-income programs. Among other callous positions, it shows complete indifference to the basic needs of the 46 million Americans struggling with hunger. The bill passed today includes a nearly $36 billion cut to SNAP. No SNAP household would be spared from seeing its benefits reduced, and millions would be forced out of the program.
Every cut to SNAP means less food in the refrigerators and the cupboards of the hungriest people in America – children, seniors, working families, unemployed workers, people with disabilities and others. And such cuts have been rejected by the American public. Seventy-seven percent of voters say that cutting SNAP would be the wrong way to reduce government spending.
The bill also makes harsh and counter-productive cuts in funding for children’s health insurance, Medicaid, and other low-income supports, and eliminates entirely the Social Services Block Grant (which funds Meals on Wheels and other programs).
Congress must stop these attempts to shred our safety net, and instead tackle hunger and poverty with the zeal that the situation – and that the public – demand.
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