DELAURO: AMERICAN PEOPLE EXPECT BETTER FROM AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement today in response to the mark up of the subcommittee draft of the fiscal year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill.

"This subcommittee has a responsibility to craft a bill that protects the health and safety of families and reflects the common-sense, mainstream priorities of the American people. This budget fails in both regards. It rolls back years of progress, especially on food safety. During my time as Chair of this subcommittee, we worked hard to provide the resources FDA needed to better protect Americans from unsafe food, drugs, and devices by investing in the FDA. But this proposal attempts to undo all of these overdue and much-needed improvements, cutting the agency by more than 20 percent below what the President has requested. With more than 50 million illnesses, 100,000 hospitalizations, and over 3,000 deaths each year caused by foodborne illnesses, it is clear that these cuts will put Americans at risk.

"And among the most outrageous cuts are those to our essential nutrition and anti-hunger programs. Funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children will be cut by 22 percent, meaning that up to 475,000 women and children will go hungry as a result. This is not only unconscionable, it is penny-wise and pound-foolish. Every businessperson in the world knows you cannot grow without making investments for the future. And no investment we can make is more important than making sure that families, and the next generation, have access to the food they need to thrive.

"This proposal cuts international food aid and slashes our food safety, nutrition, and anti-hunger efforts. It threatens the health and security of American families, and asks the most of low-income seniors and the most vulnerable among us. And to what end? So we can continue to provide subsidies to oil companies and tax breaks for billionaires. The American people expect better leadership from this subcommittee."