On August 2, President Obama signed the debt ceiling agreement into law. The deal raises the debt ceiling and creates a multi-stage process that will lead to damaging program cuts and continued economic weakness.
Our work is not done. It’s now time for anti-hunger advocates to ensure Members of Congress, especially the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “supercommittee”), know how critical SNAP, child nutrition and other safety net programs are to low-income people and that revenues must be included in the deal.
Take Action:
1) Urge your Member of Congress to speak out now to protect SNAP, child nutrition programs and other safety net programs from budget cuts. Ask your Member of Congress to join a sign-on letter (pdf) being circulated by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). This letter urges the “Supercommittee” to protect low-income programs, particularly anti-hunger programs in its proposal. If your MOC is interested in signing on, tell him/her to contact Keith Stern, keith.stern@mail.house.gov, in Rep. McGovern’s office. Deadline for signatures is close of business on October 6, 2011. See who has signed (pdf).
2) Sign (if you haven’t already) and resend to your network the letter in support of the SNAP program to your networks. More than 2,600 organizations have signed onto the letter. We want to DOUBLE that number to show Congress the large breadth of support for SNAP. Click here to sign the letter.
Resources:
Click here for FRAC’s statement on the Debt Ceiling deal.
Click here for to see how the budget deal works and its timeline.
Questions? Contact Ellen Teller or Etienne Melcher.
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