Real Cuts, Real Consequences National Organizations Speak Out in Support of SNAP AARP “AARP encourages the Committee not to reduce already inadequate SNAP benefits to generate savings that only increase food insecurity and hunger.” – Joyce Rogers, Senior Vice President, AARP Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics “Having access to healthy affordable food is necessary for all Americans. Not only does SNAP help improve health; it improves local economies at a time when it is most needed. For every $5 in new SNAP benefits, $9.20 is generated in total economic activity, resulting in jobs for the communities.” – Ethan Bergman, registered dietitian and President, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nutrition lifeline for low‐income workers, children and seniors. Especially during these tough economic times, Congress must not throw two to three million Americans off of SNAP or cause 300,000 children to lose free school meals. AFSCME members work in both of these programs and see firsthand that adequate nutrition is necessary for learning and building strong families and communities. In addition, Congress must not cut funding to states that are doing the challenging job of delivering SNAP benefits promptly to all who are eligible.” – Chuck Loveless, Director, Federal Government Affairs Department, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Public Health Association “The American Public Health Association is disheartened that the House Agriculture Committee is recommending painful cuts to vital hunger and nutrition assistance programs included in the Farm Bill today. Cutting funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical safety net program, will add further hardship to those already struggling to put food on the table. APHA strongly urges the House to reject these proposed cuts and restore its commitment to alleviate food insecurity, improve nutrition, and reduce obesity among our nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families.” – Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), Executive Director, American Public Health Association Bread for the World “With nearly 49 million Americans struggling to put food on the table, now is not the time for Congress to make cuts to this vital program that is a proven safety net for hungry and poor people. We urge members of Congress to protect SNAP and create a circle of protection around programs that are helping poor and middle class families make ends meet as the economy recovers.” – Rev. Gary Cook, Director of Church Relations, Bread for the World Center for American Progress Action Fund “We shouldn’t be asking low‐income kids, seniors, people with disabilities, and struggling families to foot the bill for reducing our nation’s deficit. Just one year of bonus tax cuts for multimillion dollar estates would be enough to offset the House plan to end automatic access to free lunch for 280,000 low‐income schoolchildren over 10 years. It’s about priorities. Programs like SNAP ensure that kids have the nutritional building blocks they need to thrive, that seniors don’t have to choose between food and medicine, and that small businesses see a sustained demand for food in tough economic times so that they can create jobs. We should stop attacking the poor and start attacking poverty.” – Melissa Boteach, Director, Half in Ten, Center for American Progress Action Fund Center for Law and Social Policy “Even as the economy slowly recovers, it’s clear that far too many American families are still struggling to find employment or earn enough to cover their bills. Cutting SNAP now would cut off millions of families, children and elderly from a vital lifeline that helps meet a basic need and put food on the table. Cuts to SNAP are not only senseless, they threaten our already weak economy, and are downright irresponsible.” – Alan W. Houseman, Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Children’s Defense Fund “With a record number of families living in poverty, SNAP has been a lifeline for millions of children while their parents struggle to get their family finances back on track during these difficult economic times. Despite SNAP's proven track record of lifting families out of poverty, the House of Representatives continues to propose draconian cuts to the program that would affect all 46 million people who receive food stamps ‐‐ including 23 million children ‐‐ while protecting the agricultural farm subsidies which primarily benefit the most well to do farms. Where is the justice in a vote to protect wealthy farmers over hungry children?” – Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund Coalition on Human Needs “The proposed farm bill legislation that will be considered by the House Committee on Agriculture this week contains unacceptable cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). The $16 billion in cuts will result in two to three million people being denied all SNAP benefits, another 500,000 households losing $90 per month in assistance, and close to 300,000 children losing free school meals. SNAP has lifted 4.4 million people out of poverty, 2 million of them children, and has cut in half the number of children in extreme poverty (in households living on less than $2 per person per day). We are a very wealthy nation, and harming low‐income people while protecting tax and other subsidies for the richest Americans is all the more unconscionable because it is so unnecessary.” – Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 2 Congressional Hunger Center “SNAP is the only federal food assistance program available to all eligible low income people including single parent households, returning unemployed veterans, elderly, children and unemployed adults. It is a national disgrace to be cutting food benefits to the poorest members of our society in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression.” – Edward M. Cooney Executive Director, Congressional Hunger Center Feeding America "We cannot understand how anyone could believe that it is moral, just or conscionable to attempt to cut food benefits for the poorest and most vulnerable among us. It is not the American way to take food away from impoverished children, senior citizens, or disabled people living on the brink of hunger, those who are too young, too old, or too infirm to fend for themselves." – Vicki Escarra, President and CEO, Feeding America First Focus Campaign for Children “When a family falls on hard times, no responsible parent’s first budget solution would be denying food to his or her children. No responsible government should solve budget problems that way, either.” – Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus Campaign for Children Food Research and Action Center “These are real cuts with real consequences, especially for seniors and working poor Americans – they will mean lost meals for hungry households. These cuts are at odds with every bipartisan deficit proposal discussed over the past year – Simpson‐Bowles, Gang of Six, and others – as well as the Budget Control Act, which protected SNAP from cuts.” – Jim Weill, President, Food Research and Action Center Jewish Council for Public Affairs “For the job searchers who struggle to afford enough food for the week or the families with kids going to bed hungry, SNAP is a lifeline. Having lived on the SNAP budget for a week as part of our Food Stamp Challenge, I know how meager the meals on that budget can be. That the House is looking to further cut this effective program, leaving those with the least with even less, is unconscionable and flies in the face of our commitment to open our hands to the poor. “ – Rabbi Steve Gutow, President, Jewish Council for Public Affairs National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty "All Americans have a human right to adequate nutrition. For many poor families struggling to both pay the rent and put food on the table, SNAP benefits are the difference between staying housed and becoming homeless. It is unconscionable for Congress to even consider reducing food assistance to the most vulnerable people in our country while they are struggling every day to survive." – Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 3 National Council on Aging “These cuts would be catastrophic for vulnerable older adults and their families. 93% of SNAP benefits go to households below the poverty line, and 76% of SNAP households include an elderly person, child, or disabled person. Taking food out of the mouths of people living at or near the poverty level is unconscionable act, especially when the unemployment rate is so high.” – Jim Firman, President & CEO, National Council on Aging (NCOA) National Farmers Union “Just as crop insurance and commodity programs serve as a safety net for farmers who face losses caused by weather‐related disasters or price collapse, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a lifeline for those in dire situations who face unexpected hardship. Unemployment remains high, and many people who never thought they would need government support now find themselves dependent upon SNAP to help them make ends meet.” – Roger Johnson, President, National Farmers Union National Immigration Law Center “Hunger in America is real. Nearly 50 million individuals in our nation don’t know where their next meal is coming from. SNAP is a lifeline for individuals and families as well as for our communities. Combatting hunger in America is a marker of our humanity and must be a national priority.” – Don Lyster, DC Director, National Immigration Law Center National WIC Association “Justice demands that fairness is the fundamental principle that defines how Congress balances the nation’s budget. Cutting SNAP (food stamps) and other human needs programs is both counterintuitive and counterproductive in the midst of this economic downturn. Millionaires – who have benefited from every possible economic and tax advantage for better than two decades – must now, of necessity, be held accountable for a fair share of the budget burden. Congress must act to stop the genocidal attacks on our nation’s poor and put an immediate end to the travesty of income inequality that is drowning the American people.” – The Rev. Douglas A. Greenaway, President & CEO, National WIC Association Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “’An economy proves its worth by the benefits it offers to all the members of a society,’ the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declared at its national gathering last week. In this time of high unemployment and sluggish economic recovery, poor and vulnerable families in this nation should not be forced to bear the burden of deficit reduction through cuts to their SNAP benefits. Now is the time to protect SNAP and affirm our conviction that there is enough for everyone.” – Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Director for Public Witness, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 4 Public Health Institute “During troubling economic times, SNAP has proven time and time again to provide bedrock support for low‐income families to help prevent hunger and diet‐related health conditions. SNAP is an effective and efficient program that improves nutrition, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and spurs economic growth. Good nutrition is a smart investment. The proposed cuts to SNAP in the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill draft would only cause greater hardship for the 46 million Americans who rely on this program to put healthy food on the table, and compromise our fragile economic recovery.” – Matthew Marsom, Vice President of Public Policy & Advocacy, Public Health Institute Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism "Hunger is one of the world’s great evils. But instead of using our resources and abilities to fight hunger, the House Agricultural Committee proposed $16.5 billion cuts to SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which would only ease the way for further spread of this scourge. We are told in the Midrash that “When you are asked in the world to come, ‘What was your work?' and you answer: 'I fed the hungry,' you will be told: 'This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry'” (Midrash to Psalm 118:17). We need not wait to know that our responsibility is to prevent these egregious SNAP cuts and ensure that every child and adult has the food to sustain and nourish them.” – Barbara Weinstein, Legislative Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism RESULTS “Hungry kids struggle to learn. Yet some policymakers are pushing forward deep cuts to SNAP – and almost half of all participants are kids. As an advocate and a mother of a young child, I implore Congress to do the right thing and reject cuts to essential nutrition programs. I strongly urge our members of Congress to support a balanced approach to our budget woes that protects low‐income Americans and expands the middle class, rather than protecting tax breaks for the richest 2 percent.” – Meredith Dodson, Director of US Poverty Campaigns, RESULTS Service Employees International Union (SEIU) “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) puts food on the tables of millions of struggling American families. Playing politics with a program that is vital for the wellbeing of millions of disabled Americans, senior citizens and children is wrong. Alleviating hunger for millions of Americans should not be a partisan issue, but one that reflects our national values and priorities. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) strongly urges Members of Congress to oppose cuts to SNAP.” – Mary Kay Henry, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Share Our Strength “Nearly half of SNAP participants are under the age of 18. Physicians have rightly described SNAP as one of our most effective vaccines. Without the food and nutrition they need to grow and thrive, vulnerable children face increased health, education, and employment challenges. We can’t have a stronger America with weaker kids.” – Billy Shore, Founder and CEO, Share Our Strength Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 5 The Alliance to End Hunger “On issues as important as feeding hungry people, we should not be playing politics. During my time in Congress, both parties worked together to protect poor and vulnerable Americans. I strongly urge members of the House to embrace this example; to join forces to protect funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and to restore this much‐needed support to vulnerable American families.” – Ambassador Tony Hall, Executive Director, The Alliance to End Hunger (D‐OH, Ret.) The Art Institutes International Minnesota and Real Food Initiatives “I used to be the face of hunger. Sixteen years ago, after a terrible accident, my family temporarily had to rely on federal assistance to help us eat. Today SNAP and programs like Cooking Matters enable me to be part of the No Kid Hungry solution by teaching families how to cook healthy meals on their extremely tight budgets. In my own state of Minnesota, more than 200,000 kids rely on SNAP to get the nutrition they need. Stronger, healthier kids means a stronger, healthier Minnesota.” – Seth Bixby Daugherty, Chef Instructor, The Art Institutes International Minnesota; Chef and Founder, Real Food Initiatives, Minneapolis, MN The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd “Since the Order of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd was founded in France in 1835, the Order has dedicated itself to serving poor and marginal people. We believe that programs serving poor people, such as SNAP, should be protected. As the world’s richest nation, it is inherently wrong for us to let our children go hungry.” – Sr. Gayle Lwanga, RGS, National Coordinator, The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) "The SNAP program is essential to our nation's most vulnerable citizens, including millions of working families who have lost jobs, or are living under the poverty line, due to the great recession. Now is certainly not the time to even be considering cuts, much less the severe and heartless cuts called for in the House farm bill." – Matthew (Matt) Biggs, Legislative‐Political Director, The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) “The UFCW strongly opposes the proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). If enacted, millions of Americans would be in danger of going hungry. Cutting off food assistance to needy families is bad policy any time, but in the midst of economic distress it is downright cruel. We urge the House to fully fund SNAP in the upcoming Farm Bill.” – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 6 United Church of Christ “God calls us to stand up against injustice. Budget choices that cause food lines to grow longer during a time of great need are unjust and contrary to our faith calling. Congress needs to take responsibility and continue helping hungry people in our nation.” – Sandra Sorenson, Director of Washington Office, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society “At a time when it is clear Congress is unwilling to permit tax cuts for the rich to expire, it is shameful the two houses of Congress are busy competing to see who can cut more from programs that feed hungry people. Scripture is replete with warnings from God to rulers who neglect the poor and needy. This Congress would be wise to listen to the ancient prophets.” – Jim Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society WhyHunger “Now is not the time to cut funding for SNAP. The SNAP numbers will go down, but only when the economy improves and unemployment goes down. The program is designed to expand when poverty increases and recede when it decreases. It has worked remarkably well during this Great Recession. Without SNAP millions more people would be hungry in America especially children and the most vulnerable.” – Bill Ayres, Executive Director and Co‐Founder, WhyHunger Real Cuts, Real Consequences| 7